GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – The annual Click It or Ticket Campaign is off to the races.
The Green Bay Police Department is just one of thousands of law enforcement agencies set to roll out the campaign ahead of the Memorial Day weekend.
“We’ll see more travelers on the road. The whole point behind it is this traffic safety for all travelers on the road,” said Lieutenant Mike Sobieck. “The goal behind the enforcement is to educate the public that wearing a seatbelt is the law. You have to wear it.”
Statistics show that 89% of drivers in Wisconsin do comply with the state’s primary seat belt law, which allows officers to issue seat belt tickets without having another reason to initiate the traffic stop. Drivers can also be cited for each passenger that’s not wearing a seat belt in the vehicle.
“Out of all of the fatal accidents in Wisconsin, [nearly] 45% of them had somebody that was not seatbelted in as a victim,” Sobieck told WTAQ News. “Buckle up. It’s something simple you can do that just might save your life.”
Those numbers go up to 55% for incidents that occur at night. This year’s campaign will focus on nighttime enforcement, defined as 6 PM to 5:59 AM. More than 27,000 seat belt violations are issued each year statewide.
While the campaign focuses on seatbelt laws, that doesn’t mean you won’t get pulled over for something else.
“They might be doing seatbelt enforcement, but if you have a car traveling at an extremely high rate of speed, they’re going to stop that car as well. It’s seatbelt safety, but all traffic laws are going to be enforced,” Sobieck said.
The campaign runs through June 6th.
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