Click It or Ticket kicks off intensified safety belt enforcement - Starts Monday

Hundreds of law enforcement agencies in Wisconsin will be watching for unbuckled drivers and passengers during the annual Click It or Ticket mobilization from Monday, May 18 to Sunday, May 31.

“During Click It or Ticket, whenever law enforcement officers see an unbelted driver or passenger they will stop the vehicle and issue a citation. Their goal is not to write more tickets but to get every driver and passenger to buckle up every time they drive or ride in a vehicle,” says David Pabst, director of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s (WisDOT) Bureau of Transportation Safety.

In addition to law enforcement efforts to increase compliance with Wisconsin’s safety belt law, WisDOT is using federal funding to broadcast TV, radio and web messages statewide urging everyone to buckle up—day or night and every trip. The messages feature Donald Driver, the Green Bay Packers’ all-time leading receiver who also is a “driver who always wears his seat belt.” A new video of Driver quizzing some unsuspecting Wisconsin drivers about their seat belt use is available online at: zeroinwisconsin.gov (http://www.zeroinwisconsin.gov/index.html). In addition, people can complete a fun and informative online traffic safety quiz at zeroinwisconsin.gov (http://zeroinwisconsin.gov/DriverSafetyQuiz.asp) for a chance to win a Donald Driver autographed football.

WisDOT also will display a reminder to buckle up on its electronic message signs on major highways from May 21 to 29.

According to WisDOT statistics, approximately 85 percent of Wisconsin motorists wear a seat belt, which is an all-time high in the state. However, more than half of the drivers and passengers killed in crashes last year were not buckled up.

“Consistent safety belt use is the single most effective way to protect people from being ejected from a vehicle or thrown around violently inside it during a crash and possibly hitting another vehicle occupant with massive force,” Pabst says. “Vehicles now have tremendous safety features. But these modern high-tech features will only work as designed if the occupants are safely secured with seat belts.”