Police To Increase Seatbelt Enforcement

From November 17 through November 30, town police will increase their enforcement of state seatbelt laws as part of the national “Click It or Ticket” seatbelt enforcement project.

Last May, a similar enforcement project resulted in town police issuing 72 seatbelt citations and four seatbelt warnings, making seven drunken driving arrests, issuing 88 miscellaneous citations, and giving 147 various traffic warnings, according to Sergeant Christopher Vanghele.

Through that enforcement project, police estimated that more than 87 percent of local motorists complied with seatbelt usage laws.

Also, Newtown will join with police from Redding, Bethel, and Brookfield to conduct regional seatbelt enforcement. That enforcement will occur in the four town from November 17 to November 21.

Under a new law, if the driver of a vehicle is under age 18, all people in the vehicle must wear seatbelts or face individual fines of $120, the sergeant said.

The seatbelt enforcement project coincides with the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday period.