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Press Release

Moreno Valley Police Receive Traffic Safety Awards

MORENO VALLEY – Ten officers from the Moreno Valley Police Department were honored today by the state’s Office of Traffic Safety for their work on the "Click it or Ticket" seat belt campaign. The three-week effort in May and June emphasized the importance of wearing seat belts and the proper use of child safety seats.

"This is fantastic news," said Moreno Valley Police Chief Bill Di Yorio during a 10:30 a.m. news conference at the Moreno Valley Public Safety Building. "Moreno Valley surpassed all other law enforcement agencies statewide during this campaign. The officers worked hard and are very deserving of this recognition," he said.

The campaign fueled Moreno Valley's seat belt use rate from just 52 percent in 2003 to well over 90 percent in 2005, said Chief Di Yorio. "Educating the public on the importance of wearing seat belts and enforcing seat belt and child safety seat laws goes long way toward improving traffic safety."

While education and enforcement were emphasized during the early summer mobilization, Moreno Valley officers wrote 5,000 seat belt and car seat violations – surpassing all police departments in California. More importantly, the effort contributed to California establishing an all-time state record 92.5 percent seat belt use rate, up from 90.4 percent in 2004.

"There either has been, or will be at least one life saved in the Moreno Valley by someone who was buckled up in a crash as a direct result of receiving a seat belt ticket, " said Christopher J. Murphy, Director of the state Office of Traffic Safety. “The additional 2.1 percentage point increase over last year's statewide number means that 657,000 more vehicle occupants are now buckling up in California than in 2004. That's huge."

 

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