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National seat belt campaign begins
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Susan Viars, left, of Mahoning County Safe Communities and Scott Weamer, Canfield assistant police chief, discussed the kickoff of the national Click it or Ticket campaign. The campaign runs through June 3 and is designed to educate drivers about the dangers of not wearing a seat belt. Weamer said anyone pulled over on a separate violation who is found to not be wearing a seat belt will be ticketed.
Staff report
Canfield
The national Click it or Ticket campaign kicked off Monday, and Canfield Assistant Police Chief Scott Weamer said departments across the Mahoning Valley are participating in the mobilization.
“The effort begins every year, in conjunction with Memorial Day weekend,” he said. “We embrace it here.”
The campaign will run through June 3, and Weamer said drivers who are stopped for other offenses and are not wearing a seat belt will be ticketed, no questions asked.
The annual two-week crackdown has resulted in more than 3 million seat-belt citations nation-wide over the past five years, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
“With the increase in traffic around the holidays, it’s important to increase our efforts,” he said. “The underlying issue here is education and traffic safety.”
Weamer said participating in Click it or Ticket costs nothing and is something his department generally enforces year-round.
“We do report back to the state at the end of the actual campaign,” he said. “They use the data to see what impact [Click it or Ticket] is having.”
Susan Viars, of Mahoning County Safe Communities, said her organization is involved to spread awareness about the campaign to local police departments.
“Our goal is traffic safety,” she said. “The risk of fatalities and injuries due to car accidents are reduced when you wear a seat belt.”