Beltless drivers rack up tickets at the airport
By Zenaida Serrano Espanol
Advertiser Staff Writer
State deputy sheriffs yesterday expanded the Click It or Ticket seat belt enforcement campaign to drivers entering Honolulu International Airport and issued 103 citations in four hours, officials said.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
State Department of Transportation spokesman Scott Ishikawa said the number of citations is "roughly the same number for the same period" at the airport during last year's campaign.
Sheriff's deputies issued more than 100 tickets in a four-hour period yesterday at Honolulu International Airport as law enforcement officials expanded the Click It or Ticket campaign. Motorists who were seen not wearing seat belts or who failed to put children in child-safety seats were stopped and cited.
But he said of the 103 citations issued between 8 a.m. and noon yesterday, about 10 percent were for child safety-seat violations.
"(It) concerns me because adults say they can make up their own minds; well, somebody's got to make up the minds for the kids," Ishikawa said.
Authorities said they plan to conduct one or two more checks at the airport before the program ends Sunday.
Nine deputy sheriffs monitored cars entering the airport yesterday from H-1 and Nimitz Highway on the upper and lower terminals of the airport.
The national program, which began May 19, this year focuses on the lowest-rated groups of unbuckled passengers and drivers: the 18- to 25-year-old age group and drivers of pickups, officials said.
For more about the Click It or Ticket campaign: • Call the state Department of Transportation's safe community office: 587-6300 • Visit the DOT's Web site
Hawai'i's seat-belt law requires all front-seat occupants to buckle up, as well as back-seat passengers under age 18, officials said.
Program information
State law also requires children under age 4 to ride in a safety seat.
Meanwhile, police officers statewide will continue stopping motorists on the move and at random roadblocks.
During last year's campaign, officers issued 4,734 citations for seat-belt violations, and 169 citations for failure to use child safety seats, officials said.
The numbers ranked Hawai'i third-highest in seat-belt users, with a 90.4 percent usage rate.
Citation totals for this year's campaign won't be available until after the program ends on Sunday.
