Story posted Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Officers Man Intersection During Seatbelt Crackdown
By DWIGHT ESAU Journal & Topics Reporter
Auto seat belt compliance is getting better, but there is still a ways to go.
That was the bottom line information provided by the Niles Police Department after a "click it or ticket" enforcement activity this past weekend in the village. Officers posted signs at inspection sites at Milwaukee and Touhy avenues on Saturday and Sunday. One of three things happened: 1) Vehicle occupants spotted the signs and fastened their belts in time for officers to wave them on. 2) Officers saw occupants fastening their belts and many were ticketed at police discretion, and 3) officers caught occupants without belts fastened and ticketed them.
"We wrote 21 tickets on Saturday and 30 on Sunday at that location," said one police spokesman. "Seat belt use has increased in the past couple of years that the state and communities have been doing this," said another spokesman. "That's a good thing, but we still have a ways to go to get 100% compliance."
Some of the tickets were for violations of child restraint regulations. The adult belt use enforcement applied to all occupants of a vehicle, officials said. This was part of a statewide "Click it or Ticket" campaign that was conducted in many communities throughout the month of May.
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