Dedham Police: Click Your Belt, Or Pay Out of Pocket

Drivers and their passengers going through Dedham better "Click It or Ticket" as are on high alert in a statewide effort.

"This special crackdown, beginning May 23 and running through June 5, marks the first seat belt enforcement mobilization across the state this year, designed to increase seat beltuse and decrease motor vehicle fatalities and injuries," the police department stated in a press release.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic SafetyAdministration, based on known usage, 52 percent of the car occupants killed in crashes in Massachusetts during 2009 were not wearing their seat belts at the time of the crash. That is 3 percent higher than the national average.

Dedham Police received help in the form of a state grant for the program, and stated they will be checking that each passenger and the driver are wearing their seat belts during each and every traffic stop.