Click It or Ticket

May 7, 2012

Sauk County Sheriff’s Office to mobilize for Click It or Ticket
safety belt enforcement from May 21 to June 3

The Sauk County Sheriff’s Office will intensify its enforcement of Wisconsin’s mandatory safety belt law during the annual Click It or Ticket mobilization from May 21 to June 3. Approximately 400 law enforcement agencies throughout the state are expected to participate in this year’s Click It or Ticket mobilization, according to Sheriff Chip Meister.
“Traffic deaths in Wisconsin so far this year have increased compared with the same time last year. And in all too many recent fatal crashes, the drivers and passengers were ejected from their vehicle because they were not buckled up. That’s why we’re serious about safety belt enforcement,” said Sheriff Meister. “To save lives and prevent injuries, our officers will stop a vehicle and issue tickets whenever they see an unbuckled driver or passenger. Our goal during Click It or Ticket and throughout the year is not to write more tickets. Through enforcement and education, we’re trying to convince everyone to buckle up voluntarily so that eventually we can reduce the number of preventable traffic deaths to zero in Wisconsin. But if voluntary compliance fails and people ignore the law as well as common sense, we will provide a very convincing reminder about wearing their safety belts.”
Law enforcement agencies throughout the state are cracking down on unbelted motorists. Last year, there were nearly 85,000 convictions for failure to fasten safety belts. Among all traffic violations, safety belt convictions in Wisconsin were second only to speeding convictions, according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
Sheriff Meister advises, “If you want to avoid the delay and hassle of being stopped and ticketed by an officer, you must buckle up every trip, every time. Even more important, consistent safety belt use will protect you from being ejected from a vehicle during a crash or thrown around violently inside it and possibly hitting another person in the vehicle with massive force. There really is no rational reason to not buckle up.”

Sheriff Chip Meister