Over 2,300 Citations Written During Click It or Ticket Campaign

(KNSI) — More than 2,300 citations were handed out during the Click It or Ticket campaign.

The campaign includes enforcement, education and awareness to influence smart seat belt choices.

“Most Minnesotans don’t give buckling up a second thought because it’s such a simple way to stay safe,” said Mike Hanson, director of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Office of Traffic Safety (OTS). “If you don’t like seat belts, ask your loved ones if they hope you get home alive. Think about their lives without you and make the smart choice to be there for them.”

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety says from May 22nd to June 4th, nearly 300 law enforcement agencies wrote 2,382 tickets for people not wearing a seat belt and issued 130 tickets for child seat violations.

Some of the stops officers made included the Airport Police at Minneapolis St. Paul International arresting two drivers on the same night. Each had four unrestrained children in their vehicles. St. Paul Police pulled over a driver with three children under six not properly belted, including an infant only in a car seat shell. Three minutes into their seat belt enforcement shift, a Rogers police officer pulled a driver over for not wearing a seat belt and then arrested the person for DWI.

Minnesota State Patrol St. Cloud region wrote 92 tickets during the campaign. The St. Paul Police Department wrote the most at 310.

Through June 11th, 24 people have died in crashes that weren’t wearing seat belts. That’s down from 34 at this same time last year and 41 from 2021. Preliminary counts show 87 unbelted motorists died on Minnesota roads in 2022 compared with 110 in 2021 and 105 in 2020. The department says 76% of unbelted fatalities in 2022 occurred in greater Minnesota.

___