SWAMPSCOTT — The police department has received a state grant to increase patrols and encourage residents to wear seat belts when driving.
The Executive Office of Public Safety and Security’s Office of Grants and Research (OGR) awarded the department $4,000, helping Swampscott police join other departments across the state, as well as the Massachusetts State Police, in the national Click It or Ticket enforcement campaign.
“Seat belts are the single most important safety items in our vehicles,” said Chief Ron Madigan. “We see firsthand the devastating consequences of drivers and their passengers not buckling up. These funds will increase our traffic enforcement presence to help end these preventable tragedies.”
State law requires every person in a passenger vehicle to wear a seat belt or sit in a child’s car seat. However, the state was ranked among the lowest in seat-belt usage in 2019, coming in at No. 45, with a usage rate of 81.6 percent, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), meaning that around 1.2 million Massachusetts residents do not regularly wear seat belts. New Hampshire has the lowest rate with just 70.7 percent, and Hawaii has the highest at 97.1 percent. The national average is 90.7 percent.
The NHTSA says that states with stronger seat belt enforcement laws have generally higher rates of use. In Massachusetts, drivers cannot be pulled over for not wearing seat belts, but can be fined $25 if pulled over for another reason and are found to be breaking the seat belt rule.
“Seat belts save lives. It’s as simple as that,” said Jeff Larason, Division Director of the OGR’s Highway Safety Division. “Massachusetts has one of the lowest seat belt-use rates in the nation. We need to change that.”
According to the NHTSA, seat belts saved an estimated 61 lives in Massachusetts in 2018. A larger percentage of fatalities are unrestrained in accidents involving pickup trucks (71 percent) and SUVs (65 percent) compared to passenger cars (60 percent).
“Seat belts are the best way to protect yourself from dangerous drivers,” said Kevin Stanton, Executive Director of the OGR. “You might be an excellent driver, but not everyone else is. Seat belts are your best defense against impaired, aggressive, and distracted drivers.”
