The Collier
County Sheriff’s Office is joining law enforcement agencies around Florida in reminding
motorists to buckle their seat belts.
The second
Click It or Ticket seat belt enforcement campaign of 2016 is underway across the
state. The campaign began Tuesday, March 1, and ends March 14.
Deputies will
be out enforcing seat belt usage and child restraint laws.
Florida law
requires drivers and passengers to fasten safety belts and/or child restraints.
The law applies
to all cars, pickups and vans.
All passengers in the front seat must wear a
seat belt. All passengers younger than 18 must wear a seat belt.
Exceptions
to the law are: mail carriers, trash haulers, newspaper carriers, individuals
with a physician’s note, individuals in the rear portion of a recreational
vehicle.
In Florida,
children 3 and younger must be secured in a federally approved child restraint
seat. Children ages 4 and 5 must be secured by either a federally approved
child restraint seat or safety belt. The driver is responsible for buckling up
a child.
Florida has
had a safety belt law since 1986, but law enforcement could only ticket
unbuckled drivers when officers stopped them for other violations. The recent
primary law allows law enforcement to stop motorists to for not wearing seat
belts.
