Buckle up: Sheriff's office to conduct seat belt enforcement Sunday
As motorists venture out to complete their weekend chores Sunday, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office has a warning; Make sure you buckle up and wear your seat belts.
Deputies will be patrolling all major roads in the county Sunday searching for seat belt violators. The traffic enforcement operation will take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. It is part of an ongoing effort to educate the public about seat belt and child seat safety, the sheriff's office said.
"The purpose of this operation is to conduct high-visibility, zero-tolerance enforcement of all Florida State Statutes regarding seat belt usage and child safety restraints," sheriff's spokeswoman Teri Barbera said in a statement. "Another part of this campaign is to educate the public on the dangers of not wearing a seat belt or securing a child in a properly installed car seat and safety belt. "
Those caught without their seat belts on, or with their children inadequately secured, can likely expect a traffic citation.
The sheriff's office conducted a similar effort in February, resulting in one felony arrest, nine criminal citations, 162 traffic citations and 77 traffic warnings for unbuckled motorists. In January, a single-day enforcement resulted in sheriff's deputies issuing nine criminal citations, 136 traffic citations and 93 warnings, according to sheriff's reports.
More than 120 traffic citations were issued for seat belts during a single-day enforcement effort in December.
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Florida law requires the use of a seat belt by all drivers, all front-seat passengers and children under the age of 18. Children ages 5 and under must be secured in an approved child restraint device. Seat belt violations in Florida have been considered a primary offense in Florida since 2009, meaning that a law-enforcement officer can stop a vehicle solely for a seat belt infraction.
The Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles department stresses that the use of seat belts can help prevent drivers and passengers from being ejected from a vehicle during a crash, or being thrown against other occupants or the vehicle's windshield.
According to statistics from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, 11,831 people killed in motor vehicle crashes nationally in 2021 were not wearing seat belts. The agency reported that 40 percent of children ages 14 and younger killed in crashes that year were unrestrained.
The NHTSA recommends that children using a regular seat belt be tall enough to sit without slouching, and be able to keep their backs against the vehicle seat, keep knees naturally bent over the edge of the vehicle and keep feet flat on the floor.
Julius Whigham II is a criminal justice and public safety reporter for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him atjwhigham@pbpost.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at@JuliusWhigham. Help support our work:Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Sheriff's deputies to patrol roads Sunday for seat belt violators
