Click It or Ticket Zones Popping Up in Washtenaw County

Police in Washtenaw County are warning residents, "If you are not wearing a seat belt you will be ticketed!"

Since Monday, Washtenaw County Sheriff’s Office, University of Michigan Department of Public Safety, Pittsfield Township Department of Public Safety, Saline City Police Department and the Northfield Township Police Department have been stepping up enforcement of the state's seatbelt law.

The special traffic enforcement period will take place from May 20 through June 2.

According to a press release from the Sheriff's Office, law enforcement officers will work over 200 hours in just Washtenaw County designated for safety belt enforcement zones. This special traffic enforcement is paid by the federal traffic safety funds administrated by the Office of Highway Safety Planning (OHSP).   

Last year, Michigan officers issued 8,125 seat belt citations and 213 child restraint citations during the seat belt enforcement period, the press release states.

A safety belt enforcement zone is marked with a large portable sign, and law enforcement officers are stationed throughout the area looking for and stopping unbuckled motorists.

"The federally funded mobilization is meant to reverse a decline in the state’s seat belt use rate that began in 2010 and continued last year when belt use his 93.6 percent, down from the all-time high of 97.9 in 2009," the release states. "Nearly half of vehicle occupants killed in traffic crashes are unbuckled."

Michigan law required all drivers and passengers 15 and younger in any seating position to be buckled up. Children must be in a car seat or booster seat until they are 8 years old or 4 feet 9 inches tall. Fines start at $65 a ticket.