North Jersey Police Issue Hundreds Of Summonses For Not Buckling Up

Law enforcement officials issued more than 350 summonses to local drivers this weekend who were caught not wearing their seat belts.

The summonses were issued as part of an initiative conducted by the Passaic County Aggressive Driving Task Force to promote safe driving during the Memorial Day weekend. The Bergen County Police Department was part of the enforcement effort. 

The goal was to reduce motor vehicle crashes and fatalities and promote safety belt usage by travelers, especially passengers sitting in rear seats. The sweep coincided with the national Click It Or Ticket campaign.

Les Goldstein, coordinator of the sweep with the Passaic County Office of Highway Traffic Safety, said in a statement that the use of safety belts remains the most effective way for a motorist to reduce his or her risk of injury or death in a crash.

More than 911 summonses, including 359 for failing to wear a safety belt, were issued. Twelve vehicles were impounded.

Such sweeps were first conducted in 1999. More than 40 have been conducted since then resulting in nearly 34,000 summonses being issued, Goldstein said in the statement. A similar sweep was conducted last year.

The task force is composed of police officers from 23 jurisdictions in Passaic, Morris, and Bergen counties and the New Jersey State Police.  Officers were out in force on several major thoroughfares including: Routes 3, 21, 23, 46, and 208 and interstates 80, 280, and 287. 

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