Pennsylvania Police to Toughen Seat-Belt Enforcement with ‘Click It or Ticket’

Authorities in the State College area will step up enforcement of seat-belt-use rules starting Monday, Ferguson Township police announced over the weekend.

Through June 12, according to the announcement, police departments across Pennsylvania will run the state’s ‘Click It or Ticket’ campaign. The initiative puts an emphasis on issuing tickets for drivers — and passengers — who fail to use their seat belts.

Under most circumstances, police in Pennsylvania can’t stop a driver solely for failure to use his or her seat belt. But a driver stopped for another violation can receive a secondary ticket for failure to be buckled up.

In addition, police may stop a vehicle solely for a seat-belt violation if a child under the age of 5 isn’t buckled up; if a driver under the age of 18 is carrying an over-capacity number of passengers; and if a motorist is driving a commercial truck.

The main goal of Click It or Ticket is to curb the number of crash fatalities, according to the Ferguson Township department. It has cited state Department of Transportation statistics, which show 1,324 people died on Pennsylvania roadways last year.

Of those who died, 523 were not wearing seat belts; 279 were wearing seat belts. (Others who died in the Pennsylvania crashes include pedestrians and motorcyclists, according to the PennDOT statistics.)