May 16, 2016 3 min read

If you are behind the wheel of a vehicle traveling on a road or highway in Pennsylvania, make sure that you and your passengers are properly restrained, because police from across the state, including those in Washington County, will be cracking down on scofflaws.

The Click It or Ticket campaign kicked off Monday and will continue through June 5. Most people seem to be getting the message about the importance of wearing seat belts or having children in appropriate child safety seats, said Jay Ofsanik, safety press officer for the state Department of Transportation District 12 in Uniontown.

In Pennsylvania, seat belt use was estimated at 84 percent in 2015.

“But it is still a problem. It is a shame that 16 percent still don’t use seat belts,” Ofsanik said. “Of the 16 fatalities involving occupants of vehicles in Washington County, nine of those were unrestrained. In Greene County, there were five occupant fatalities with five unrestrained.”

State police Lt. Douglas Bartoe, patrol section supervisor for Troop B in Washington, said the seat belt enforcement program is only part of the enforcement effort as troopers gear up for the Memorial Day weekend travel. He said there will be additional patrols looking for drunken drivers, speeders and aggressive drivers. Enforcement also will be beefed up in construction zones.

There also will be combined effort with state police in neighboring Ohio and West Virginia, Michigan, Kentucky and Indiana over the holiday weekend letting drivers know that enforcement does not stop as drivers cross from one state into another.

Canonsburg has been selected to participate by the state after a several-year absence. Sgt. Loren Cochran said most drivers seem to be wearing their seat belts. He said borough police will be doing roving patrols and making traffic stops looking for violators.

Peters Township police Chief Harry Fruecht said most of his department’s enforcement effort will be on Route 19.

“We done studies in the township, and it seems we have a high usage rate,” Fruecht said. “But until it hits 100 percent, we need to keep putting out the message to fasten seat belts.”

Washington police Chief Robert Wilson said his department will have extra patrols.

“Make sure you are wearing your seat belt,” he advised. “If not, you will get a ticket.”

The departments also will be participating with 15 other eastern states in the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Border to Border enforcement from 6 to 10 p.m. May 23. Ofsanik said seat belt usage seems to go down at night.

Last year across Pennsylvania, police issued 4,000 citations for seat belt violations and another 7,000 citations for failure to properly restrain children in appropriate safety seats.

Other departments participating include California, Charleroi and Monongahela, Cecil, Mt. Pleasant, North Franklin, North Strabane and South Strabane.

Bartoe said there also will be child safety seat inspections. For a schedule, check the state police website at psp.pa.gov/ and click on public safety.