October 6, 2004

A summer-ending Buckle Up or Pay Up, Click It or Ticket safety belt enforcement effort resulted in more than 23,000 safety belt citations issued to unbuckled motorists.

According to statistics reported to the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning (OHSP), 23,303 safety belt citations were issued between Aug. 30 and Sept. 12. Of that number, 341 were for improperly buckled children under age 4.

Officers also arrested 484 drunk drivers, 317 individuals on felony charges and 2,239 others for misdemeanor charges. In addition, 19,512 citations were issued for traffic safety violations such as speeding and driving on a suspended license.

"Traffic enforcement is good police work," said Michael L. Prince, OHSP division director. "Not only did this campaign encourage more people to buckle up, officers also removed drunk drivers from the roads, apprehended fugitives and felons, and identified motorists with suspended or revoked licenses."

OHSP coordinated the Buckle Up or Pay Up, Click It or Ticket mobilization, providing federal traffic safety funds for overtime patrols and paid advertising to promote awareness of the initiative. By providing law enforcement agencies with overtime funding, officers can concentrate on safety belt enforcement without taking away from their day-to-day duties.

Agencies in 31 counties conducted safety belt enforcement zones during the enforcement effort that helped increase Michigan’s safety belt use rate to 90.5 percent. Michigan is now the fifth state in the nation, and the first state east of California, to achieve a 90 percent or greater safety belt use rate.

The next statewide traffic safety enforcement effort is a crackdown on drunk drivers, Dec. 20 – Jan. 2, 2005.

For a citation breakdown by county, visit www.michigan.gov/ohsp.