It probably takes less than 60 seconds to buckle seat belts for an entire family. By contrast, those who are pulled over not having seat belts buckled receive something akin to a gift that keeps on giving. The citation for
It probably takes less than 60 seconds to buckle seat belts for an entire family.
By contrast, those who are pulled over not having seat belts buckled receive something akin to a gift that keeps on giving.
The citation for driving without a buckled seat belt, for the driver, any front-seat passenger, and any back-seat passenger under the age of 18, is $67 per incident. And that doesn’t include the embarrassing time spent pulled over in front of the police car with its lights flashing.
If a keiki under the age of four is not secured inside an approved car seat, the fine for a first offense is up to $100, plus mandatory attendance at a child passenger restraint system class, and $50 driver education assessment.
By contrast, a car seat costs between $50 and $100, and you can be in and out of the store within 20 minutes normally. The class can be as long as four hours.
And did we mention what moving violations do to your vehicle insurance rates?
Although the Kauai Police Department is gearing up for participation in a statewide campaign to improve seat belt usage that doesn’t start until next week, officers have been out in force checking for compliance with this life-saving, injury-preventing law.
Those three officers with their cars parked in the median strip of Kaumuali’i Highway in front of Kukui Grove Center Wednesday morning were making sure drivers and passengers were legally restrained.
The statewide campaign, “Click It or Ticket,” reflects the “zero-tolerance” stance KPD is taking towards those who don’t buckle up, said Lt. Stanton Koizumi.
The statewide campaign formally kicks off Monday, May 13, running through Friday, June 7, which coincidentally covers the period of public-school graduations. The KPD all-out enforcement period begins Monday, May 20, running through the first Friday in June, Koizumi said.
And even though Kaua’i boasts the best seat-belt law compliance rate in the state, at 87 percent, Koizumi of the KPD Traffic Safety Unit wants to see it over 90 percent. University of Hawaii officials are coming to Kaua’i in early June to do a survey and determine the island’s compliance rate, and statewide compliance must be 85 percent or better in order to preserve federal funding for seat belt and child safety restraint programs.
The seat-belt fine is $67 if paid prior to the court date scribbled at the bottom of the citation. If paid on or after the court date, the fine goes up to $92.
