Police: High Compliance During Seat Belt Campaign

Newport Beach police ticketed more than 30 drivers during the recent two-week Click or Ticket campaign, a police official reported.

In total 32 tickets were handed out during the campaign, which ran from May 20 through June 2, for both seat belt and child seat violations, according to police spokeswoman Jennifer Manzella.

"Our officers saw a great deal of compliance with the seat belt laws, which really speaks to the success of the Click It or Ticket campaign," Manzella said.

Last year the Newport Beach Police Department handed out 18 citations during the campaign.

"We would not attribute the higher number to a significant decline in compliance, even though it statistically might seem like a large increase year-to-year," Manzella explained.

California is among the highest in the nation for seat belt law compliance, with a rate that is consistently in the mid-to-high 90s in recent years, Manzella said.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 52 percent of the 21,253 passenger vehicle occupants killed in 2011 were not wearing their seat belts at the time of the crash.

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