Seat Belt Campaign Nets 241 Citations in Roseville

During Minnesota’s “Click It or Ticket” enforcement effort in May, Roseville Police issued 237 seat belt and four child restraint citations, the city department said.  

During the campaign, Roseville officers enforced the state’s primary seat belt law that requires drivers and their passengers to be buckled up,  A seat belt fine is $25 but can cost more than $100 with court and administrative fees ($106 in Ramsey County),  the department said.

The number of seat belt citations that Roseville Police issued in May was more than double a  typical month. According to Roseville statistics, the PD issues about 90 seat belt citations in an average month.  

“Enforcing seat belt use is not just the job of law enforcement — it’s up to every motorist to speak up and tell your passengers to belt up,” Roseville officer Jesse Lowther said in a statement. “Unbelted motorists are not just endangering themselves. In a crash, an unbelted passenger can slam into and injure or kill others in the vehicle.”

Nearly 400 law enforcement agencies across the state participated in the federally-funded enforcement effort which is aimed at increasing seat belt and child restraint use among motorists, Roseville PD said. During 2007 to 2009 in Ramsey County, 18 unbelted motorists were killed and 45 were seriously injured, department officials said.  

The department said it  stepped night-time patrols of seat belt  enforcement during May, resulting in handing out 108 citations. The department explained that a disproportionate number of unbelted traffic deaths occur during evening hours.

The seat-belt campaign also included enforcement of Minnesota’s strengthened child passenger safety law that requires children to be in the correct restraint until they are age 8 and 4 feet 9 inches tall,  Roseville Police added. This law requires booster seats for children usually starting at age 4 to ensure adult seat belts fit them correctly.

In the end, Roseville Police said the May "Click It" campaign had an impact:  Officers observed prior to the seat belt enforcement campaign that 81 percent of motorists were belted. In a post-enforcement survey, belt use jumped to 88 percent, the department said.