Salisbury Township Police Department Cpl. Bryan Losagio, the department’s traffic safety officer, teamed with Allentown Police Department traffic safety officer Stephen Rosenburg Sept. 19 for a seat belt enforcement detail near the Allentown School District’s South Mountain Middle School.

In about two hours, the officers issued a total of 15 citations after observing vehicles being driven without children safety secured. Ten of the citations were seat belt violations and three citations were for non-licensed drivers. Another was for a suspended driver’s license and one was for an expired state safety inspection.

“We focused on child passenger seat belt use but, after stopping a vehicle for a juvenile belt violation, we often found other violations,” Losagio said. “A large number of other non-seat belt violations were noted, but we did not stop more operators because we did not want to miss the actual belt violations that we were targeting.”

Losagio and Rosenburg also handed out a large number of seat belt informational brochures to drivers which explained the seat belt law in Pennsylvania.

Losagio said feedback from residents in the area was very positive and some said they were happy to see police in the area doing this type of detail, Losagio said. “One citizen even surprised us by walking up to shake my hand for our efforts,” he said.

The enforcement detail was funded by a grant from the statewide Buckle Up Pa traffic safety program.

“We were surprised to see how many people today had their little kids in a vehicle not wearing a seat belt,” Losagio said. “No parent wants to see harm come to their child, yet many are allowing children to be a in a vehicle not safely secured, putting their lives at risk. We don’t think it’s a matter of personal lack of caring that we are seeing, rather, some people, for some reason, just do not realize how dangerous it is to be in a vehicle without a seat belt. An expensive ticket at times is what is needed to get their attention.

“Our department takes a zero tolerance approach when it comes to the safety of children. It is pretty simple. Wear a seat belt or expect a ticket,” Losagio said.