More people ‘Click It’
in seat belt drive

The number of tickets issued in
two weeks falls 22% from 2004

The number of tickets issued for seat belt and child safety-seat violations in Hawaii dropped 22 percent during the two-week "Click It or Ticket" campaign this year, state officials said yesterday.

Statewide, police issued 2,545 tickets this year during the May 23-June 5 campaign, down from 3,266 in last year's campaign, according to the state Department of Transportation.

More Honolulu and Kauai motorists got caught for not buckling up this year, but fewer tickets on the Big Island and Maui brought the statewide number down.

Organizers consider the results a success, even though it means roughly $66,000 less in potential revenue from fines.

"With the number of seat belt tickets issued going down each year, hopefully drivers are getting the safety message," state Transportation Director Rodney Haraga said in a press release.

Child safety-seat violations cited during the campaign dropped to six from 35 on Maui and to 62 from 97 statewide. Kauai was the only county with an increase in child safety violations, to 15 from four.

Seat belt citations on the Big Island dropped to just 146 from 698, and on Maui, to 586 from 1,223.

But Kauai and Honolulu had big jumps.

Oahu citations increased to 1,321 in this year's crackdown from 1,037 last year. The number of motorists nabbed on Kauai more than doubled, to 430 from 211.

Hawaii's seat belt law requires that all drivers and front-seat passengers be secured with a safety belt, as well as back-seat passengers under 18. The law also requires a child safety seat for children under 4 years old.

The fine for violations is $92.

A project at the University of Hawaii is compiling seat belt usage data following the campaign. Usage last year was estimated at 95.1 percent, placing Hawaii second in the nation behind Arizona.

This year's campaign included the efforts of the state Transportation, Health and Education departments, as well as the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Safe Community coalitions and business and religious leaders, according to a Transportation Department news release.

Assuming all those cited pay the $92 fine, collections would total $234,140 from this year's campaign, down from last year's $300,472.