UW-Parkside Police join “Click It or Ticket”

Traffic deaths in Wisconsin in 2012 have increased 15 percent compared with the same period last year. And in far too many recent fatal crashes, the drivers and passengers were ejected from their vehicles because they were not buckled up.

Effective Monday, May 21 through Sunday, June 3, 2012, the University of Wisconsin-Parkside Police Department joins approximately 400 law enforcement agencies across Wisconsin to participate in the national "Click It or Ticket" mobilization.

The goal during this mobilization is not to write more tickets, but to save lives and reduce injuries through voluntary compliance with Wisconsin's mandatory seat belt law. However, if you are stopped by an officer for a traffic violation, and you don't have a seat belt on, expect to get a ticket. Not just the driver, but passengers as well.

"Click It or Ticket" combines intensified safety belt enforcement with a federally-funded public awareness campaign featuring Green Bay Packers' wide receiver Donald Driver as its spokesperson.Previous "Click It or Ticket It" mobilizations have helped increase the safety belt use rate in Wisconsin but we still have a long way to go.

Nationwide, traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for teens and young adults. On average, a motorist age 19 years or under in Wisconsin is killed or injured in a traffic crash every 90 minutes. But only about 68 percent of drivers ages 16 to 25 buckle up, which is the lowest safety belt use rate of any age group in Wisconsin. Wisconsin lags behind the national average for using seat belts?79 percent compared to the national average of 86 percent.

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.

In addition, motorists who are hurt or killed in traffic crashes because they didn't buckle up create tremendous economic losses, such as medical expenses. The rest of society pays for nearly 75 percent of these economic losses through higher insurance premiums, taxes, and other public funding, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. Economic losses from traffic fatalities and injuries in Wisconsin were more than $2.5 billion in 2010 according to the Wisconsin Traffic Crash Facts report.

Have a safe summer and don't forget: it's click it...or ticket.

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ABOUT THIS STORY:

Story Status: Archived
Publish date: 5/17/2012

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