CPD Launches Effort To Reduce Motor Vehicle Injuries and Fatalities By Increasing Seat Belt Use

The Cambridge Police Department, in partnership with the Highway Safety Division of the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, the Massachusetts State Police, and nearly 200 other Massachusetts local police departments, will take part in the national Click It or Ticket campaign starting today and continuing through May 29th. This high-visibility mobilization will promote seat belt use through increased traffic enforcement in an effort to reduce motor vehicle deaths and injuries.

“More people buckling up and keeping their eyes focused on the road means more lives saved,” said Deputy Superintendent Jack Albert of the Cambridge Police Department. “Our officers will be out enforcing the seat belt and child passenger safety laws so that fewer people are needlessly injured or killed in crashes.”

Massachusetts seat belt usage is significantly lower than the national average – 78 percent compared to 90 percent, according to the state’s annual seat belt observation study. Sixty-four percent of the 172 people killed in motor vehicle crashes on Massachusetts roads in 2015 were known to be unrestrained, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).

Seatbelts saved an estimated 72 lives in Massachusetts in 2015, according to NHTSA, and an additional 41 deaths could have been prevented if seatbelt usage was at 100%.