In an effort to save lives on Arizona’s roadways, the Surprise Police Department is partnering with the Arizona Governor’s Office of Highway Safety and other local law enforcement agencies to enforce Arizona’s seat belt and child safety seat laws.

As part of the national “Click It or Ticket” seat belt enforcement campaign, law enforcement agencies across the state will step up traffic patrols and other enforcement efforts to drive home the message, “Buckle Up Arizona…It’s the Law!”

The enforcement will run through Sunday, June 2.

Arizona presently conducts enforcement under a secondary seat belt law and a primary child safety seat law.

Primary enforcement laws allow police officers to stop a vehicle because of a suspected violation.

By contrast, secondary enforcement laws allow officers to issue a citation for a seat belt violation during a traffic stop for another violation.

The campaign is based on high-visibility traffic enforcement with a zero-tolerance approach to seat belt and child safety seat usage.

Despite widespread efforts to educate drivers about the importance of wearing seat belts, motor vehicle collisions continue to be the leading cause of death and serious injuries in our state.

Regular seat belt use is the single most effective way to protect people and reduce fatalities in motor vehicle crashes.

When worn correctly, seat belts have proven to reduce serious crash-related injuries and deaths by about 50%.

The proper and consistent use of child safety seats has been found to reduce the risk of fatal injury by 71% for infants (younger than one-year-old) and by 54% for toddlers (one to four years old) in passenger cars.

Properly installed booster seats reduce the risk of serious injury by 45% among children ages four to eight years old.

Funding for this enforcement campaign is provided by the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety.