Click-It or Ticket law increasingly enforced

City officers are taking the Click-It or Ticket program seriously, issuing 10 times as many tickets this year for not wearing seatbelts as they did just one year before.

‘We know that wearing a seatbelt can help prevent serious injury or even death in a crash,’ said McMinnville Police Major Bryan Denton of the stepped up effort to enforce the state’s seatbelt law. ‘Now that it’s considered a primary offense, meaning officers can stop a motorist just for not wearing a seatbelt, we are trying to get the message out that everyone needs to wear a seatbelt.’

That message was received by 220 motorists during the second quarter of 2007, including the months of April through June. The grand total of tickets was about 10 times what was written by city police during the same quarter last year in 2006 when just 29 seatbelt violations were ticketed.

A seatbelt violation will cost the offender $10 on a first offense and $20 on the second offense. The ticket does not incur a court cost so the tickets are actually $10 and $20 and are designed by the state as a reminder to buckle up.

‘One of the most important features of a seatbelt is that it keeps passengers from being ejected in the case of a violent impact or rollover accident,’ Denton said. ‘If a person does not buckle up, the car safety features built in to most vehicles to help reduce injury are of no use.’

Seatbelt tickets do not cover violations of the child restraint law (designed for persons under nine who are under certain weight restrictions), with violations of child restraint carrying a much higher price, costing the motorist over $100 on the first offense. Just as with the seatbelt, violation of child restraint is a primary offense and can lead to a traffic stop on its own. There were 22 motorists ticketed for child restraint violations last quarter.