New “Coast to Coast” Seat Belt Enforcement Effort Aims to
Increase Click It or Ticket Participation, Save Lives
San
Francisco, CA – From May 23 to June 5, 2016, local law enforcement personnel
will participate in the national Click It or Ticket campaign in an effort to
save lives through increased seat belt use. This education enforcement period
comes ahead of the Memorial Day holiday, one of the busiest travel weekends of
the year.
According
to research conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,
while 88.5 percent of passenger vehicle occupants buckled up in 2015, almost 50
percent of occupants of fatal crashes nationwide are not restrained. In some
states, the rate is as high as 70 percent unrestrained in fatal crashes.
In California, more than a half million people travel our roadways at grave
risk without proper restraints. These facts gravely highlight the need for
increased education, awareness and enforcement and awareness of seat belt use.
This
year, NHTSA is aiming to increase campaign participation even more by
coordinating a “Coast to Coast” seat belt education and enforcement effort with
the California Highway Patrol and law enforcement around the I-10, I-40, I-70
and I-80 corridors. Additionally, law enforcement agencies statewide are
joining the Click It or Ticket effort to emphasize the “Coast to Coast” seat
belt safety awareness campaign in all 50 states.
“As
law enforcement, we have a special role in helping protect the safety of our
citizens, from the East to the West Coast,” said Chief Toney Chaplin, San
Francisco Police Department. “Time after time, we see the deadly results that
come from drivers and passengers refusing to wear a seat belt. Wearing a seat
belt is one of the most important steps in increasing survivability in a crash.
Our job is to stop those who are not buckled up, and to keep them from
repeating this potentially deadly mistake.”
In
2014, nearly half of the 21,022 passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes
nationally were unrestrained, according to NHTSA. During the nighttime hours of
6 p.m. to 5:59 a.m., that number increased to 57 percent of those killed. Law
enforcement agencies will write citations day and night, with a zero-tolerance
approach.
“Hundreds
of thousands of citizens will be traveling this Memorial Day weekend, as well
as throughout the summer vacation season. We want to make sure that people are
buckling up to keep themselves and their families safe. It is the greatest
defense in a vehicle crash,” said Rhonda Craft, Director of the California
Office of Traffic Safety.
For more information on the Click It or Ticket campaign,
please visit www.nhtsa.gov/ciot.
Arrests:
No Incidents to Report.
Serious Incidents:
No Incidents to Report.
Vehicle and Other Incidents:
08:00am Unit
Blk Ora Way Theft
08:59am Circular/Congo Hit and Run
09:00am Mansell/Girard Stolen Vehicle
09:02am Circular/Congo Recovered Vehicle
09:30am 1200
Blk Cortland Recovered
Vehicle
09:34am 400 Blk
Laidley Recovered
License Plate
09:42am 700 Blk
Velasco Recovered
Vehicle
11:35am 400 Blk
Madrid Battery
12:35pm 700 Blk
Vienna Burglary
03:00pm 400 Blk
Paris Theft
04:00pm 100 Blk
28th Street Attempted
Stolen Vehicle
05:00pm 300 Blk
Trumbull Stolen
Vehicle
05:00pm 1900
Blk Sunnydale Stay Away
Order Violation
06:35pm Unit
Blk John F Shelley Arson
