Port Jervis, NY: On November 16, the Port Jervis City Police Department will be teaming up with law enforcement agencies nationwide to participate in the annual Click It or Ticket seat belt campaign which runs through November 29. According to NHTSA, in 2018, there were 9,778 unbuckled passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes in the United States. In that same year, 56 percent of passenger vehicle occupants killed at night (6 p.m.–5:59 a.m.) were not wearing their seat belts. That’s why one focus of the Click It or Ticket campaign is nighttime enforcement. Participating law enforcement agencies will be taking a proactive approach to seat belt law enforcement, addressing violations day and night. 

The Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee (GTSC) has indicated 30 percent of highway deaths in New York are occupants unrestrained by a seat belt. Safety experts believe that the use of a backseat seat belt could prevent over two thirds of fatalities and serious injuries resulting from crashes. 

On November 1, 2020, a new law took effect in the State of New York to reduce automobile accident fatalities and casualties by requiring all occupants of a motor vehicle to buckle up including passengers seated in the rear seat of a motor vehicle.

If you know a friend or a family member who does not buckle up when they drive, please ask them to consider changing their habits. Help us spread this lifesaving message before one more friend or family member is killed as a result of this senseless inaction. Seat belts save lives, and everyone—front seat and back, child and adult—needs to remember to buckle up—every trip, every time.”

The Port Jervis City Police Department was awarded funding to participate in this initiative from a grant provided by the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee Police Traffic Services and Buckle Up New York Traffic Safety Grant Program.

For more information on the Click It or Ticket mobilization or other traffic safety initiatives, please visit www.nhtsa.gov/ciot or the New York State Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee (GTSC) at https://trafficsafety.ny.gov/