file photo Boyd Loving
Click It or Ticket campaign in N.J. is looking for more than seat belts
MAY 23, 2014, 11:19 PM LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, MAY 23, 2014, 11:52 PM
BY DAVE SHEINGOLD
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
The yearly Click It or Ticket campaign aimed at increasing seat-belt use is turning into a catchall for police departments across New Jersey, which are writing more tickets for violations such as hand-held cellphone use, expired registrations and reckless driving, than for failing to buckle up, according to state data.
As studies show that more and more New Jersey drivers are buckling up, the number of seat-belt summonses issued by police departments funded by the federal program has dropped, and tickets issued for other infractions have soared during the annual two-week campaign, raising questions about whether the effort still serves its stated purpose..
An analysis by The Record of statewide Click It or Ticket data found that police wrote 20,000 tickets to seat-belt and child-restraint scofflaws statewide under the program in 2013, down by more than half from the 53,200 written in 2007. At the same time, the number handed out for all other violations has jumped from 33,400, to 44,000. As a result, only about 30 percent of tickets written under the program now are issued for seat-belt infractions.
Police departments in Hackensack, South Hackensack, Garfield, Northvale and the city of Passaic are among those in Bergen and Passaic counties seeing significant drop-offs.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/click-it-or-ticket-campaign-in-n-j-is-looking-for-more-than-seat-belts-1.1022775#sthash.7C9GkBPN.dpuf
This is just like lottery tickets. Getting taxed based upon stupidity. Take extra pens, cops.
#1, IMHO, I believe people who smoke are acting stupidly but that doesn’t stop them. Their ‘tickets’ are sin taxes and they are hooked – usually for life. It’s another government related scam to grab $$$. Remember, when it was first enacted, the seat belt law could not be enforced unless the motorist was stopped for another violation. Now, they used the seat belt as an entry violation to write up a grocery list.
yep it’s a real scam.