The Santa Barbara Police Department reminds travelers to always buckle up and secure children in the right car seats when visiting friends and family.

During this year’s Click It or Ticket campaign, which runs May 18-31, the Santa Barbara Police Department will have additional officers on patrol actively looking for drivers and passengers who are not wearing seat belts.

This includes vehicles in which children are not secured in child safety seats or the appropriate safety seats for their age.
 
“Our priority is protecting the people in our community,” said Santa Barbara Officer Lopez. “Wearing a seat belt or properly securing children in car seats or a booster seat gives everyone a better chance of surviving a crash.

“We want every trip – short or long – to end safely, so please buckle up, every time.”

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2023, 10,484 people killed in crashes in the U.S. were not wearing a seat belt.

In California, there were 780 unrestrained people killed in crashes that same year, including 24 children, according to reports. Additionally, unrestrained child fatalities in California increased by 4.3 percent from 2022 to 2023, officials said.

California law requires all children under two years old to ride in a rear-facing car seat, unless the child is 40 or more pounds or is 40 or more inches tall.

Once a child reaches these milestones, all children under the age of 8 years are still required to be secured in a car seat or booster seat, police said.

Children under the age of eight may not ride in the front seat unless the vehicle is not equipped with a rear, forward-facing seat.

Children ages eight years and older, or who are at least 4 feet 9 inches tall, may be secured by a booster seat, but at a minimum must be wearing a properly fitted safety belt.

Parents and caregivers are encouraged to keep children in the proper rear or forward-facing seat as long as possible and use the Five-Step Test to determine if their child is big enough to safely use a seat belt without a booster seat.

Funding for this program was provided by a grant from the California Office of Traffic Safety, through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.