COHASSET — Chief William Quigley and the Cohasset Police Department are pleased to report that the department has been awarded a grant from the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security’s Office of Grants and Research (OGR) to increase the number of patrols and to remind drivers and passengers about the lifesaving benefits of wearing a seat belt.
The grant is in the amount of nearly $12,000 for enforcement through 2021. Cohasset police will join other departments across the state and the Massachusetts State Police in the national Click It or Ticket enforcement campaign.
“So many tragedies on the roads could have been prevented if drivers or passengers were simply wearing a seat belt,” Chief Quigley said. “We urge anyone in a vehicle to always make sure to buckle up, and we are thankful for this important funding to increase our enforcement of seat belt usage in the community.”
Important Data
- Massachusetts’ seat belt use rate is consistently lower than the national average, ranking 45th in the 2019 seat belt observational study. At 81.6% use, over 1.2 million Bay Staters still are not regularly buckling up. The national seat belt use rate is 90.7% (2019).
- In Massachusetts, a larger percentage of pickup truck (71%) and SUV (65%) fatalities are unrestrained compared to passenger cars (60%).
- According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, seat belts saved an estimated 61 lives in Massachusetts in 2018.
- 68% of nighttime fatalities are unrestrained in Massachusetts compared to 55% of unrestrained daytime fatalities.
“Seat belts are the best way to protect yourself from dangerous drivers,” said Kevin Stanton, Executive Director of the OGR. “You might be an excellent driver, but not everyone else is. Seat belts are your best defense against impaired, aggressive, and distracted drivers.”
For more information on the OGR’s Municipal Road Safety and distracted driving enforcement grant program, visit www.mass.gov/service-details/traffic-safety-grants.
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