Crime & Safety

Local Police Issue Hundreds of Seatbelt Tickets in Weekend Sweep

Passaic County Aggressive Driving Task Force issued 911 summonses: 359 of those were for seat belt violations; 5 arrests were made; 12 vehicles were impounded.

Law enforcement officials from police departments in Bergen, Passaic, Morris and Essex counties joined forces over Memorial Day Weekend and issued more than 350 summonses to local drivers caught not wearing their seatbelts.  

The summonses were issued as part of an initiative conducted by the Passaic County Aggressive Driving Task Force to promote safe driving during the Memorial Day weekend.

Police departments in and participated in the initiative, which aimed to reduce motor vehicle crashes and fatalities and promote safety belt usage by travelers, especially passengers sitting in rear seats. The sweep coincided with the national Click It Or Ticket campaign.

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"Strict enforcement and the issuance of a summons are the most effective tools to change driver behavior," said Wyckoff Police Chief Benjamin Fox. "We join with [the Passaic County task force] each year to send a message that our roadways need to be kept safe, and aggressive or unsafe driving will be met with a summons."

Fox added that his department periodically engages in their own proactive searches for traffic violators on local roadways.

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"Motorists might believe that they violate the law on Route 208 and got away with it. That might be true on some days, but we are periodically out there." Fox said. "Should you choose to violate the motor vehicle laws on Route 208 or any other Wyckoff roadway often enough... we'll get you. It's just a matter of time."

The Passaic County Aggressive Driving Task Force consisted of a total of 71 participating officers. The initiative netted 911 summonses: 359 of those were for seat belt violations; 5 arrests were made; 12 vehicles were impounded.

Statistics relating specifically to Wyckoff and Franklin Lakes roadways were unavailable as of Wednesday afternoon. 

Coordinated by Lt. Les Goldstein of the Passaic County Office of Highway Safety, the task force consists of police agencies from Passaic, Morris, Bergen and Essex Counties; the Passaic County Sheriff's Department, Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office Bergen County Police Department and the NJ State Police.    

The weekend sweep was the 40th conducted by the task force since its 1999 inception. The previous 39 operations resulted in nearly 34,000 summonses and 310 criminal arrests, according to a joint task force press release.

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