For the remainder of May, the Cambridge Police Department will be teaming up with Massachusetts State Police and more than 130 local police departments state-wide to crack-down on motorists who are not buckling up. Cambridge Police will be taking part in the national Click It Or Ticket (CIOT) seat belt enforcement mobilization, which is federally funded through the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security’s Highway Safety Division.
Beginning this week through June 1, 2014, law enforcement officials will be out in full force looking for safety belt violators.
In Massachusetts in 2012, an estimated 50 lives could have been saved if everyone wore their seat belts. Statistics also show that passenger vehicle occupants are buckling up more during the day, but not enough at night. While Massachusetts data is still being compiled, nationally, nighttime drivers are less likely to buckle up compared to daytime drivers. 10,480 passenger vehicle occupants were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes at night (6 p.m. to 5:59 a.m.) in 2012. Of those killed in nighttime crashes, 55 percent were not wearing seat belts (compared to 41 percent of occupants killed during daytime hours of 6 a.m. to 5:59 p.m.).