Waukesha Police Participating in 'Click It or Ticket' This Weekend

The Waukesha Police Department is participating in the statewide “Click it or Ticket” special enforcement that targets drivers and passengers who are not wearing seatbelts.

The special enforcement period began Monday, will continue through Memorial Day weekend and ends June 5. The Waukesha Police Department has received grant funding to allow additional officers on the road during this enforcement time through regular and overtime hours, according to Waukesha Police Sgt. Dave Wanner.

Memorial Day weekend will have a larger amount of officers on patrol because of the grant, Wanner said.

While the enforcement is designed to have police officer conduct traffic stops on vehicles when people are observed without seatbelts, Wanner said the police department’s enforcement period is also about encouraging the public to buckle up on their own.

“We are not out there looking to write tickets,” Wanner said. “The bigger goal is the voluntary compliance. …We are hoping they will do it because it is the right thing to do.”

A Wisconsin Department of Transportation news release states more than 385 law enforcement agencies are participating in the Click It or Ticket initiative.

The DOT news release states that Wisconsin had about 120,000 seat belt violation convictions, which was a record in 2010. Speeding violation convictions were the only convictions to exceed seatbelt violations.

About one in five motorists do not use seatbelts, according to the news release. Wisconsin uses seatbelts about 79 percent of the time, which is behind the national average of 85 percent. Neighboring states Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois have seatbelt use rates of more than 90 percent, according to the news release.