`Click It or Ticket' Nets 4,629 Seat Belt and Child Seat Citations
15 September 1999
North Carolina Highway Patrol Just So Proud of Their Latest 'Big Brother' Program
RALEIGH, N.C., Sept. 15 -- North Carolina law enforcement officers issued
4,291 seat belt and 338 child safety seat citations as part of the 1999
edition of the "Click It or Ticket" enforcement campaign. The citations are
the result of 491 checkpoints and random patrols across the state from Monday,
Sept. 6 , to Sunday, Sept. 12, which was the second week of the three-week
campaign. The numbers were reported by law enforcement agencies in each
county and compiled by the North Carolina State Highway Patrol.
Besides cracking down on seat belt and child safety seat violators,
officers last week charged 828 with driving while impaired (DWI). They
discovered a total of 21,383 violations, including 208 drug charges, 21 stolen
vehicles, and 5 fugitives from justice.
The goal of "Click it or Ticket" is to boost seat belt use in North
Carolina, saving lives, preventing injuries, and reducing the massive health-
care costs associated with traffic crashes. Last spring, Gov. Jim Hunt issued
a proclamation in support of "Click It or Ticket" calling for law enforcement
officers statewide to take a zero tolerance position on child passenger safety
violations. A new child passenger safety law, which goes into effect Oct. 1,
will require children up to age 16 to use an age-appropriate passenger
restraint no matter where they ride in the vehicle. It also increases by one
year the mandatory use of a child restraint system (child safety seat or
booster seat) to the fifth birthday and 40 pounds in weight. That safety seat
must be used in the back seat of a vehicle with an active passenger-side
airbag.
"Click It or Ticket" continues through Sept. 19. The following are the
statewide totals for Sept. 6-12:
Statewide Totals
DWI Occupant Restraint Traffic Violations
Total Driving While Seat Belt Child Safety Speeding Total Traffic
Checkpoints Impaired Violations Seat Violations Violations
Violations
479 747 4,453 511 5,990 18,674
(8/30-9/5)
491 828 4,291 338 7,164 20,525
(9/6-9/12)
970 1,575 8,744 849 13,154 39,199
(Total for
8/30-9/12)
Criminal Violations
Misdemeanor Stolen Other Total
Drug Felony Firearm Vehicles Fugitives Criminal Criminal
Violations Drug Violations Recovered Arrested Violations Violations
Violations Not Listed
205 72 27 16 9 668 997
162 46 19 21 5 605 858
367 118 46 37 14 1,273 1,855
Total
Traffic & Criminal
Violations
19,671
21,383
41,054