Law enforcement personnel from throughout the region have created a partnership as they participate in a National Seat Belt Enforcement initiative. Partners include Lehighton, Tamaqua, Rush Township, Kidder Township, Butler Township, West Penn Township and Pennsylvania State Police, as well as the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

The effort will focus mainly on nighttime patrols, between the hours of 9 p.m. and 4 a.m., from now through June 5. Officers will conduct Roving Patrols and set up Traffic Enforcement Zones on roadways which have had a high number of accidents involving unbuckled motorists. Citations will be issued to anyone found to be unbuckled or who is transporting unrestrained, or improperly restrained, children.Pennsylvania's primary seat-belt law requires drivers and front seat passengers to buckle up. Children under the age of 4 must be properly restrained in an approved child safety seat. Children ages 4 to 8 must be restrained in an appropriate booster seat. In addition, children ages 8 to 18 must be in a seat belt when riding anywhere in a vehicle.PennDOT statistics show there were 13,627 unrestrained crashes, resulting in 383 fatalities in Pennsylvania in 2014.The effort is being held in conjunction with the national "Click It or Ticket" and Buckle Up PA campaigns.For more information on seat belt safety, visit

www.JustDrivePA.com.