Click It or Ticket Campaign Leads To Over 1,000 Citations

(KNSI) – Over 1,000 Minnesotans were pulled over in the most recent Click It or Ticket campaign.

Law enforcement agencies from across the state cracked down on seatbelt and child restraint violations from September 15th to the 21st. While 1,036 seat belt and 48 child restraint citations sound like a lot, the total is the lowest since at least 2020.

Central Minnesota was a bright spot. The Minnesota State Patrol St. Cloud district lagged behind at least five other regions. The St. Paul Police Department had the most seat belt citations at 140, followed by Minnesota State Patrol Virginia, Duluth, west metro, Rochester, and east metro districts. They handed out between 96 and 45 tickets for not wearing a seat belt.

The Department of Public Safety Office of Traffic Safety shares some examples that stood out. The St. Paul Police Department reports that it stopped a vehicle on the highway because a woman in the front passenger seat was feeding a three-week-old baby rather than having them restrained properly.

Cottage Grove police arrested a drunk driver for child endangerment. They were speeding at 90 miles an hour while a three-year-old was inside the vehicle without a seat belt or car seat.

Officials say 78 people have been killed on Minnesota roads while not wearing a seat belt in the first nine months of 2024, up from both 2023 and 2022.

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