For Immediate Release

Friday, May 10, 2019

Media Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: [email protected]

Reading Police Department Participating in “Click It Or Ticket” Seat Belt Enforcement Campaign

READING — Deputy Chief David Clark announces that the Reading Police Department will participate in a Click it or Ticket campaign beginning next week in an effort to reduce motor vehicle deaths and injuries.

The initiative is organized through the Massachusetts Highway Safety Division of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security and will run from May 13 through June 2.

According to the state’s annual seat belt observation study, the seat belt use rate rose to 81.6 percent in Massachusetts last year, but it still lags well behind the national average of 89.7 percent.

Additionally, while an estimated 61 lives were saved in Massachusetts in 2017 by seat belts, 62 percent of people killed in motor vehicle crashes in the same year were unrestrained, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

“This campaign is a critical part of raising awareness of the importance of wearing a seat belt every single time you get into a car,” Lt. Kevin Brown said. “Wearing a seat belt is the easiest and most common sense step that people can take, so we’re eager to do what we can to encourage and enforce seat belt use.”

Massachusetts law requires all motor vehicle occupants to wear a seat belt. All children riding as a passenger in motor vehicles must be in a federally-approved child passenger restraint that is properly fastened and secured until they are 8 years old or over 57 inches tall. Children older than 8 years old or taller than 57 inches then must wear seat belts.

The Reading Police Department is one of approximately 140 local departments, along with the Massachusetts State Police to participate in the high-visibility mobilization.

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