CT's first lady nabbed for seat-belt violation

By Ken Dixon

HARTFORD — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s Click It or Ticket campaign reached familiar levels of effectiveness over the holiday weekend.

First lady Cathy Malloy became an enforcement statistic when a Hartford cop stopped her for unbuckled driving.

The infraction, first reported by the online CTNewsJunkie, was confirmed Tuesday by the governor’s spokesman, Andrew Doba, who said the governor’s wife will not contest the $92 fine.

“Mrs. Malloy received a ticket in Hartford on Thursday,” Doba said. “She will pay it this week.”

Doba declined to provide more information about the circumstances of the ticket.

State Police have placed an emphasis on cracking down on motorists who fail to wear their seat belts. From Friday until midnight Monday, troopers made 816 arrests for seat belt violations, the department said Tuesday.

State public safety officials said they want to raise compliance with the law. From 2004 to 2008, residents showed a compliance rate of 84 percent in seat belt usage, according to a state Department of Transportation report. Officials hope to boost that figure to 90 percent.