Seat Belt Violators

Every day, tens of thousands of drivers break the law in California, and by doing so put themselves and their child passengers at deadly risk. In the split second that an adult fails to buckle up or buckle up kids, a decision has been made that could result in the death of one or all passengers in the vehicle.

That is why the Santa Paula Police Department is joining the largest-ever crackdown on drivers who don’t buckle up and don’t buckle up children. From May 21 through Memorial Day, our officers will sharply intensify enforcement of adult seat belt and child passenger laws as part of the Operation ABC Mobilization.

During this enforcement blitz, officers will conduct checkpoints and saturation patrols to look for and ticket drivers statewide who knowingly violate seat belt laws. There will be no warnings. No excuses.

We join this enforcement effort because it works. Since the mobilizations began in 1997, child fatalities have dropped 17%. We are proud to be a part of this lifesaving effort, but more must be done.

Last year, 86 children and 908 adults in California died unrestrained in crashes. And traffic crashes continue to be the No. 1 killer of kids, killing more than 2,000 each year. If you ignore the law and put innocent lives at risk, look for us in your rearview mirror this Memorial Day holiday.

Sgt. Gary Marshall

Santa Paula Police Department