Maui Click-It-Or-Ticket Seat Belt Enforcement Begins May 11

Click it or Ticket, seat belt enforcement. Maui Now graphic.

By Wendy Osher

The Maui Police Department will participate in a two week campaign targeting seat belt violations starting on Monday, May 11, and running through Monday, May 25, 2015.

The enforcement effort is being conducted in conjunction with the national Click It Or Ticket campaign.

During the campaign Maui police say they will be issuing citations for drivers and passengers who are not properly secured. The fine is $102 and will be issued to the operator of the vehicle.

Citations will also be issued for pick-up truck restrictions.

Maui police remind drivers that all seats within the cab need to be occupied before any individual is allowed to sit in the bed of the truck.  The law further restricts truck bed occupants to those over the age of 12.

Violators face a fine of $72; or a $97 fine for having a child 12-years and under seated in the bed of a pick-up truck.

Police also advise that passengers eight years and older are required to use a seat belt, no matter where they are in the vehicle.  Children 0-3 years old must be in a child restraint; and kids 4 to 7 years old must be secured in either a child restraint or booster seat.  In addition to the $102 seat belt fine, there is a mandatory court appearance for all child restraint violations.

Officer Dawn Danley with the Maui Police Department’s Vehicle Homicide Unit commented in a department press release saying the primary goal of the operation is to ensure the safety of all occupants of vehicles on the roadway.

Transportation officials say 14,542 drivers in Hawaiʻi were cited for seat belt violations in 2013, and an additional 2,206 drivers were cited for child restraint violations.