Yakima Police And Traffic Safety Commission Partner For Emphasis Patrol

The annual Click it or Ticket campaign starts soon in and around Yakima County. Police are hoping the emphasis is more of an education campaign rather than an enforcement campaign for parents and others. Here's the latest from the Yakima Police Department.

"The Yakima Police Department (“YPD”) is partnering with the Washington State Traffic Safety Commission again this year for the annual “Click It or Ticket” campaign.  A large focus of this year’s campaign will be child occupant safety.

The leading cause of death for children in Washington State is a traffic collision.  What’s even more alarming is the fact that more than half of the children killed in car crashes are completely unrestrained.

The YPD Community Services Division recently conducted a nine-hour blind survey around nine local schools. During the survey period, 952 vehicles were observed that had at least one violation of a child occupant protection law.  Of those 952 vehicles observed, 575 violations were for no use of proper child occupant protection (including booster seats and seatbelts).  YPD Community Services Division staff observed 452 violations of the law requiring children under the age of 13 to ride in the rear seats of the vehicle, when available.  This information is particularly concerning because of the dangers that modern vehicles pose to young people by the safety equipment that is designed to protect adults, such as frontal airbags.

Increased enforcement efforts related to child occupant laws will begin soon. It is the hope of the YPD that the percentage of misuse or nonuse of child occupant protection will drastically drop before the enforcement campaign begins.  Children are required to utilize child restraint systems (car seats and boosters) until the age of 8, unless the child is four feet nine inches or taller, and they must ride in the back seat if they are under the age of 13.  For more information about child occupant laws, contact the YPD Community Services Division at 575-6197. "