More Than 1,100 Seat Belt Citations Written During One Week Enforcement Campaign

(KNSI) — The Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s latest Click It or Ticket campaign netted over 1,100 citations in just one week.

The DPS’s Office of Traffic Safety coordinated the statewide extra enforcement between September 17th and the 23rd. Officers, deputies and troopers from 278 agencies were on the road looking for people who were not buckled up. They issued 1,125 seat belt tickets and wrote 39 child restraint violations.

The St. Cloud State Patrol District wrote 56 tickets. The Detroit Lakes District wrote the most at 87.

Minnesota law requires drivers and all passengers, regardless of where they are seated in the vehicle, to wear a seat belt. All children must be in a safety seat until they are 4 feet, 9 inches tall or at least 8 years old, whichever comes first.

A seat belt ticket is $25 but can cost upwards of $100 with fees. Drivers will be ticketed for unbelted passengers ages 14 and younger. Unbelted passengers aged 15 and older will be ticketed directly. Child seat violations are considered petty misdemeanors, resulting in a $50 citation for the first offense.

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