Photo by Antonio J. Sanchez via stock.xchng
The Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department will increase its safety belt enforcement patrols during the annual Click It or Ticket mobilization through June 6. More than 300 law enforcement agencies in Wisconsin are expected to participate in this year’s Click It or Ticket, which is the nation’s largest safety belt enforcement and education campaign.
“All too often, deputies respond to crash scenes where people are needlessly killed or seriously injured because they were not buckled up. That’s why The Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department is serious about safety belt enforcement,†said Sheriff David Beth. “We are reminding motorists that a change in state law last year allows our officers to stop and ticket unbuckled drivers and passengers even if we do not see another violation. We hope that enforcement efforts during Click It or Ticket and throughout the year will motivate people to buckle up so that we can reduce the number of traffic deaths in Wisconsin. We’re not striving to write more tickets. We simply want to get everyone to buckle up every time they drive or ride in a vehicle. But if people continue to ignore the mandatory safety belt law, and common sense, they will get a ticket.â€
Law enforcement agencies throughout the state are cracking down on unbelted drivers and passengers, according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. Last year, convictions for failure to fasten safety belts exceeded 100,000 for the first time in state history. Safety belt violations were approximately 12 percent of all traffic convictions in 2009.
