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<p>PRINGLE &#8212; Those entering the West Side Career and Technical Center (CTC) parking lot Monday morning got a bit of a surprise.</p><p>Officers from the Kingston Police Department, as well as students in the school&#8217;s law enforcement program, greeted vehicles entering school property and handed drivers a pamphlet reminding them to buckle up or get a ticket.</p><p>Sgt. Thomas McTague said that Oct. 19-25 is Teen Driver Safety Week and explained departments like his are given grants from PennDOT to encourage teen drivers to buckle up. PennDOT spokesman Michael Taluto said the Kingston Police Department was given $1,500 in grant money to raise awareness this week.</p><p>McTague explained Monday&#8217;s event was informational and drivers not wearing seat belts as they entered West Side CTC were not cited.</p><p>Later this week, however, he said officers from his department will look more closely at drivers around the school not wearing seat belts, and cite them accordingly.</p><p>&#8220;Wearing your seat belt is very important,&#8221; McTague said. &#8220;Crash statistics have proven that through injury and fatalities.&#8221;</p><p>According to statistics provided by PennDOT, a total of 78.7 percent of people involved in crashes in 2014 reported using their seat belts, while 6.8 percent did not.</p><p>Statistics also indicate 48.1 percent of deaths in crashes involved people not wearing seat belts, while 37.9 percent of deaths in crashes involved people who did wear seat belts.</p><p>The pamphlet handed out to drivers indicated drivers under 18 years old who do not wear a seat belt will be pulled over and ticketed since seat belt use is a primary law.</p><p>For drivers over the age of 18, seat belt use is a secondary law &#8212; if a driver is pulled over for another violation and isn&#8217;t wearing a seat belt, he or she will be cited for both the original violation as well as for not wearing a seat belt.</p><p>McTague explained West Side CTC enabled his department to obtain a grant since the grant requires the department be in an area where a lot of students drive to and from school. The school is located in Pringle, which is covered by Kingston&#8217;s police force.</p><p>One of the students lending a hand Monday morning was junior Gabrielle Witten, 17.</p><p>Clad in a yellow police vest, Witten stood in the morning chill and watched drivers pull into one of the school&#8217;s entrances. She said all the drivers she saw were wearing seat belts.</p><p>Along with praising the safety aspect of her role, Witten liked being out of the classroom and getting a hands-on perspective.</p><p>&#8220;It gives a lot of experience, so now the next time we&#8217;re going to do this, I know what to do,&#8221; she said.</p><p>Dan Hunsinger, law enforcement instructor at West Side CTC, thanked the Kingston Police Department for involving his students.</p><p>&#8220;I think this is a great idea,&#8221; said Hunsinger, who also serves as chief of police of Forty Fort Borough. &#8220;Education about seat belt awareness, especially with teenage drivers &#8230; it&#8217;s important that they need to know why they need to wear the seat belt.&#8221;</p><p>For McTague, even if one person buckled up after Monday morning&#8217;s effort, it was a success.</p><p>&#8220;If there&#8217;s one person here today that this makes them put their seat belt on and saves them, this grant did its job,&#8221; he said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Kingston Police Department, along with West Side Tech Vocational School Law Enforcement students, handed out seat-belt reminder coupons as students and teachers entered school property Monday morning. This was done as part of a statewide teen seat belt enforcement mobilization from Oct. 19-25. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_TTL102015SeatBelts1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Kingston Police Department, along with West Side Tech Vocational School Law Enforcement students, handed out seat-belt reminder coupons as students and teachers entered school property Monday morning. This was done as part of a statewide teen seat belt enforcement mobilization from Oct. 19-25. </caption0><photoCredit0>Clark Van Orden | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_TTL102015SeatBelts2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Members of the Kingston Police Department, along with West Side Tech Vocational School Law Enforcement students, handed out seat-belt reminder coupons as students and teacher entered school property Monday morning. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_TTL102015SeatBelts2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Members of the Kingston Police Department, along with West Side Tech Vocational School Law Enforcement students, handed out seat-belt reminder coupons as students and teacher entered school property Monday morning. </caption1><photoCredit1>Clark Van Orden | Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Travis Kellar</p><p>tkellar@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Travis Kellar at 570-991-6389 or on Twitter @TLNews</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Kingston police, West Side CTC students remind drivers to click it or get a ticket