Fifteen Gloucester County towns, Rowan University funded for seat belt patrols

The Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office will be distributing $40,000 as part of a national “Click it or Ticket” campaign

Special police patrols will be funded in Gloucester County from May 22 through June 4 — leading up to and immediately after the heavily-trafficked Memorial Day weekend — to enforce the life-saving requirement to wear seat belts while driving.

The Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office will be distributing $40,000 from the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety for “saturation” patrols in 15 towns and Rowan University in Glassboro as part of a national “Click it or Ticket” campaign to promote seat belt use.

“Using a seat belt is the simplest way for a driver and his or her passengers to protect themselves when traveling,” said Gary Poedubicky, acting director of the state Division of Highway Traffic Safety. “In 2015, it is estimated that 14,000 lives were saved nationally by the proper use of seat belts.”

Poedubicky said a key focus of this year’s campaign is to promote seat belt usage by adults in all seating positions in the vehicle, both front and rear seats. The front seat belt usage rate in New Jersey currently stands at 93.35 percent. However, adults riding in rear seats are buckling up at a significantly lower rate.

“For whatever reason there seems to be a disconnect with people feeling they don’t need to buckle up when riding as a passenger in rear seats, and this is a concern,” Poedubicky said.

During the 2016 “Click it or Ticket” campaign, 387 state police agencies participated in the two-week initiative. As a result of the effort, law enforcement officers issued 26,551 seat belt citations, 5,517 speeding summonses and made 876 impaired driving arrests.