Darien Police Seatbelt Enforcement Campaign Results

Update: June 13:

Darien Police gave out 385 tickets to people not wearing seatbelts in the 18 checkpoints the department conducted from May 21 to June 3 as part of the statewide "Click It or Ticket" enforcement campaign, announced.

The department participates in the campaign each year to increase seatbelt usage in an effort to cut down on the deaths and injuries caused by motor vehicle accidents.

The department issued a news release announcing the numbers of tickets, along with background information on why wearing seatbelts is important (attached to this article).

May 31:

CT's First Lady Nabbed in Seatbelt Enforcement Campaign

In the midst of a statewide campaign to , Cathy Malloy, the First Lady of Connecticut, was ticketed for not wearing her seatbelt last week, a spokesman for the Governor confirmed.

According to AP, over three million tickets have been issued during the annual "Click It or Ticket" campaign over the past five years.

Police departments throughout Connecticut will be continuing their high visibility enforcement effort of child safety seat and safety belt laws through June 3.

Editor's note: The above article, by Ryan Sartor, Wednesday by Milford Patch.

May 15:

Warning: Darien Cops to Check Seat Belt Use

Buckle up, or maybe you'll be paying up—and it could be as much as $120.

That's the message Darien police are sending with an announcement that a "Click It or Ticket" campaign of intensified enforcement of Connecticut's seatbelt laws.

"The No. 1 cause of death for children and teens in the United States is traffic crashes!" the department said in a news release Monday. "Stateistics show an average of one fatality every 14 minutes, and one injury every 13 seconds due to car crashes in this country.

"Statistics also show that vehicle passengers have a 77 percent chance of surviving a fatal car crash if they are properly seat-belted," the news release stated. "The current seatbelt usage rate in the state of Connecticut is 88 percent; the national average for seatbelt usage is 84 percent."

Darien police and "hundreds of other law enforcement agencies across the country" will be intensifying seatbelt enforcement efforts, according to the news release.

Here are some of the fines drivers could pay if they or their passengers aren't belted up:

• $92—for adults not wearing a seatbelt while driving

• $120—fine when teenagers 16 or 17 years old are not wearing seatbelts

• $92—for a child less than a year old and weighing less than 20 pounds who is not secured in a rear-facing child safety seat or booster seat

Drivers may want to be aware of these other state seatbelt regulations (this language is quoted from or adapted slightly from the Darien Police Department news release, which is attached to this article):

• All front seat passengers are required to wear seatbelts while a car is in motion.

• Passengers over 18 years old and who are sitting in the rear seat of a vehicle are not required to wear a seatbelt unless the driver is under 18 years old.

• "All passengers under 18 years old are required to wear seatbelts, even passengers who are sitting in the rear seat of a vehicle."

• A driver transporting any passengers under 16 years old is responsible for ensuring that the passengers are properly seat-belted, and the operator would be ticketed for any of these violations.

• In Connecticut, children under a year old and less than 20 pounds must be secured in a rear-facing child safety seat or booster seat.

• Children over 7 years old and weighing more than 60 pounds should be in seat belts in a regular passenger seat.