LANSING, January 2, 2003 – More than 19,000 safety belt citations were written by Michigan law enforcement officers during the highly publicized Click it or Ticket campaign Nov. 25-Dec. 8, reported the Office of Highway Safety Planning (OHSP).

During the two-week enforcement, 484 law enforcement agencies across the state made safety belt enforcement a priority. The 365 agencies providing OHSP with data reported that 18,872 citations were for unbuckled adults and 475 citations were written for unbuckled children ages 15 and under.

"The volume of citations written during this two-week enforcement period proves that law enforcement officers were serious about the zero tolerance approach," said Betty J. Mercer, OHSP division director. "They realize we can’t increase safety belt use rates by giving warnings. As belt rate usage goes up, deaths and injuries go down, and that’s the ultimate goal."

Overall, belt use in Michigan is 82.9 percent, based on a direct observation survey taken following the Labor Day weekend.

Federal funds were granted to 18 counties to put additional officers on the roads during the two-week period. These counties are the state’s most populous and also reflect where crash problems are greatest. The grant-funded enforcement was supplemented by hundreds of other Michigan law enforcement agencies taking part in the mobilization.

For many non-seat belt users, and especially young people, the threat of a ticket has proven to be a greater inducement to buckle up than the threat of injury or death. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), if every state conducted high visibility enforcement, 5,000 to 7,000 lives could be saved nationally each year.

In addition to safety belt citations, police made 1,256 arrests for alcohol-related offenses during the enforcement period.

Read more press releases from the Michigan State Police.