Cops are cracking down to prevent unnecessary deaths.
Buckling up can do just that.
Wisconsin law enforcement officers are once again on the look-out for violators during the Click-it or Ticket campaign – a national effort to raise awareness about seatbelt use.
"We just want to raise awareness and hopefully along the way some people will put some belts on and we'll save a few lives."
Major Dan Lonsdorf, Director of the DOT Bureau of Transportation Safety. He says the fine for not wearing a seat belt is a mere ten bucks, with no demerit points – not incentive enough to convince seatbelt usage. But Lonsdorf says drivers and passengers should be convinced by the risk of serious injury … or death.
"We see it all too often on our highways, our law enforcement officers are fed up with having to deal with those kinds of situations where everyone knows someone would have lived if they had just done that simple thing."
Lonsdorf says safety belt use in Wisconsin is among the lowest in the nation, partly because it's not a primary enforcement law.
"The officer can't stop them solely for that however they can stop them for something else and then they can certainly write them a ticket for not wearing a belt after they've stopped them for something else."
Without Primary Enforcement for seatbelts, officers are told to perform what is called aggressive traffic law enforcement, and they are told to write as many citations as possible during the Click it or Ticket campaign.
Lonsdorf emphasizes, it's not about the fines, the goal is to remind everyone of the risks of not buckling up.
NOTE: Click It or Ticket kicks off Monday, May 18th and continues through Memorial Day Weekend and until the end of the month. Check out the new TV ad featuring 'Miracle on the Hudson' co-pilot Wisconsin's Jeff Skiles.
AUDIO: Jackie Johnson report (1:30 MP3)
