Full Notification

Cypress, CA – Once again, The Cypress Police Department is reminding motorists to Click It or Ticket. As part of the national seat belt enforcement campaign, law enforcement agencies around the country will be stepping up enforcement May 18-31, including the kickoff to the summer season, Memorial Day weekend, which is one of the busiest travel weekends of the year.

“Unbuckled motorists have a much greater chance of being seriously injured or losing their lives in motor vehicle crashes,” said Cypress Police Department Interim Police Chief Rod Cox. “As we approach Memorial Day weekend and the summer vacation season, we want to make sure people are driving safely and wearing their seatbelts. Doing so is one of the best things they can do to save themselves, their friends, and their family members in the event of a crash. Seat belts have been proven to reduce injuries and save lives”

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly half of the 21,132 passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes in 2013 were unrestrained. At night from 6 p.m. to 5:59 a.m., that number soared to 59 percent of those killed. That’s why one focus of the Click It or Ticket campaign is nighttime enforcement. Participating law enforcement agencies will be taking a no-excuses approach to seat belt law enforcement, writing citations day and night. In California, the minimum penalty for a seat belt violation is $161.

California statistics reveal that 500 unrestrained vehicle occupants died in 2013. Almost twice as many males were killed in crashes as compared to females, with lower belt use rates too. Of the males killed in crashes in 2013, more than half (54%) were unrestrained. For females killed in crashes, 41 percent were not buckled up.

For more information on the Click It or Ticket mobilization, please visit www.nhtsa.gov/ciot