Click It or Ticket: Intensified seat belt enforcement in effect until June 5th

MILWAUKEE -- Officials with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation are reminding drivers that there will be intensified seat belt enforcement throughout the state of Wisconsin beginning Monday, May 23rd.

That's when the "Click It or Ticket" mobilization begins. The campaign runs until June 5th.

DOT officials say hundreds of law enforcement agents will be on the lookout for unbuckled drivers and passengers.

“More officers will be on patrol for longer hours during the mobilization, and whenever they see an unbelted driver or passenger, they will stop the vehicle and issue a citation. Their goal is not to write more tickets. They’re simply trying to get everyone to buckle up through effective enforcement and education,” David Pabst, director of the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s (WisDOT) Bureau of Transportation Safety said in a statement.

According to DOT statistics, approximately 86 percent of Wisconsin motorists buckle up, which is an all-time high in the state. However, approximately half of the drivers and passengers killed in crashes last year in Wisconsin were not wearing a safety belt.

In 2015, there were nearly 55,000 convictions in Wisconsin for failure to fasten a safety belt, according to a release from the DOT.

“Besides avoiding a ticket, buckling up will protect you and everyone in your vehicle from being violently ejected during a crash. An unbelted occupant also can hit another a person in the vehicle with massive force causing death or serious injuries. Vehicles now have tremendous safety features. But they won’t be effective unless all the occupants in the front and rear seats are safely secured with seat belts," Pabst said in the statement.