They're serious when they say "Click it or Ticket." The Suffolk County Police Department will conduct a safety campaign between May 21 and June 4 to enforce seat belt laws.
The "Buckle Up New York – Click It or Ticket" campaign will also check for compliance with child seat safety laws.
"Increasing seat belt and child safety seat use is one of the most effective ways to reduce crash-related injuries and fatalities," the SCPD said in a statement.
Residents can expect checkpoints and increased patrols. According to the department, officers will take a zero-tolerance standpoint with violations of the laws. Among the laws that will be enforced:
- All front seat occupants ages 8 and older must wear a seat belt.
- All rear seat passengers ages 8 through 15 must wear a seat belt.
- All children younger than 4 years old must be restrained in a federally approved child safety seat.
- If the child’s weight exceeds 40 pounds, in a child restraint system in conjunction with safety belts, the restraint system must meet size and weight recommendations of the manufacturer.
- Children ages 4 through 7 must be properly secured in an appropriate child restraint system, one that meets the child’s height and weight recommendations, according to the child restraint manufacturer. The vehicle’s safety belt alone is not a child restraint system.
Besides no one seems to care that the police not only don't wear the seat belts but also talk on private phones in the car. But then again on LI the laws never seen to apply to the enforcers.
I love it when people without a clue about the law or the Constitution talk about what is, or isn't legal; plain sight observations don't require a warrant, and you certainly can't do whatever you want even in your own house. Try announcing you've got a meth lab in your basement and see what happens. "no consequences to anyone other than yourself"? You know what? If nothing else, I'm sure nobody even wants to pay to have someone scrape your carcass off the pavement after you eject yourself through the windshield (or threw it, if you prefer). I'll bet the cost of that dwarfs the $25 beach parking fee everybody's complaining about.
A few here seem to be very concerned with the safety of those adults who dont wear a seatbelt. Im more concerned with the safety of the residents of Suffolk County in their own homes and feel this should be a top priority. There is a wave of burglaries occuring in our area that should be addressed before seat belts. oh yeah and there are also a serial killer or two still running around the area in case you forgot.
Maybe you didn't know, since clearly you are not educated on this topic, but these seatbelt campaigns also act as proactive policing as well. When pulling over these careless motorists they run the plates of the car which could be stolen, and also run the license of the driver who could have a warrant out for their arrest. They could also detect the presence of drugs and make a drug arrest (drugs are a huge reason for burglaries). Know your facts before bashing cops. Don't comment on a topic that you are not familiar with. No cops will be "harassing" you unless you are the one careless enough to not wear a seatbelt. As they said, Click-it or Ticket.
As far as not knowing what im talking about i had a break in to my property and a motorcycle was stolen. All that was done was the taking of a report and a complaint number being generated. no one even looked at the area of the breakin. It is you who it tunns out is uninformed on this topic and obnoxious about it to boot. there are therapies that you could look into for your anger issues.
I don't know... suggesting they're NOT doing any policework sounds like bashing to me. So having your motorcycle stolen makes you an authority on police procedures and priorities? Well, at least now we understand the bug up your a$$ on this issue; apparently you expected Kojak to come to the rescue with a lollipop in one hand and your scooter in the other. I'm sure you had a run of the mill beat cop take your report and issue you a complaint number - he's not trained or authorized to perform any kind of investigation, that's a job for the detectives who are probably busy hunting for those serial killers you're so concerned with. John Jay made several good points about the collateral policing that's done as part of these traffic stops that you chose to ignore - the very reasonable thinking being that someone willing to break one law is quite probably willing to break others. And as you yourself point out, our police departments work under the direction of others, you can't blame the cop on the street when he's been directed to pay special attention to seatbelt compliance. You can also bet that the detectives responsible for murder and burglary investigations WON'T be the cops manning traffic duty.
"To Serve & To Protect" means only themselves...