EP Police Urge Seat Belt Use - Or Else

In a city press release, the East Providence Police Department is reminding motorists to 'Click It or Ticket.' East Providence and Seekonk police kicked off their "Border to Border" campaign at on Monday, May 23rd at Edward Martin Middle School. As part of the national seat belt enforcement campaign, law enforcement agencies around the State will be stepping up enforcement just ahead of the busy travel seasons.

"Every day, unbuckled motorists are losing their lives in motor vehicle crashes, " said East Providence Police Chief Christopher Parella. "As we approach Memorial Day weekend and the summer vacation season, we want to make sure people are doing the one thing that can save them in a crash; buckling up."

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly half of the 21,022 passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes in 2014 were unrestrained. At night, from 6pm to 5:59 am, that number soared to 57 percent of those killed.

That's why one focus of the Click It or Ticket campaign is nighttime enforcement. Participating law enforcement agencies will be taking a no-excuses approach to seat belt law enforcement, writing citations day and night, explained the police and city of East Providence public statement.

In Rhode Island, the penalty for seat belt violation is $40 for persons age eight and older. Child restraint violations for persons under age eight are $85. "If you ask the family members of those unrestrained people who were killed in crashes, they'll tell you they wish their loved ones had buckled up," add Chief Parella. "The bottom line is that seat belts save lives. If these enforcement mobilizations get people's attention, and get them to buckle up, then we've done our job."

According to the Rhode Island Department of Transportation's Chief of State Highway Safety Programs, Gabrielle Abbate, seat belt use in Rhode Island stands at 86.7 percent for drivers and front seat occupants. "Efforts like those of the Martin Middle School students are exactly what is needed to persuade the remaining 13 percent of Rhode Islanders who are still not buckling up to wear seat belts, " said Abbate. For more information on the Click It or Ticket mobilization, please visit www.nhtsa.gov/ciot.