Minnesota already has a high rate of seat belt compliance — 95 percent — and that number seems to be going up.
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS) reports that law enforcement wrote 32 percent fewer citations during a recent two-week "Click It or Ticket" campaign compared with 2014. Last year, police issued tickets to 10,874 motorists. This year, they issued 7,393. One person was ticketed twice in one day.
"We are encouraged by the increased number of motorists making the right choice by buckling up," said Donna Berger, Office of Traffic Safety director. "However, with nearly 7,400 people still failing to wear their seat belts, we ask drivers and passengers to speak up about buckling up if somebody is unbelted in their vehicle. Unbelted motorists not only risk their own lives, but put the lives of others in danger as well."
Police issued 175 tickets to drivers who did not have children properly restrained. That was down 37 percent from the 279 handed out last year. The campaign ran May 18 to 31.
"It's getting harder to find a violation, and that's good," said Lt. Tiffani Nielson of the State Patrol. "The fact that we are citing less tells us we are seeing better compliance. Now we just want to get that last 5 percent on board."
Nielson said compliance is higher in the metro than in rural areas. Even so, officers in metro jurisdictions wrote plenty of tickets to unbelted motorists. St. Paul Police issued 243, Minneapolis 191, Bloomington 112, North St. Paul 92, Maplewood 88, Forest Lake 87 and Eden Prairie 80.
Outside the metro, St. Cloud Police led the way with 123, followed by Duluth with 103. The State Patrol handed out 2,048 tickets. The fine for not wearing a seat belt is $25 but can rise above $115 with ticket surcharges and court costs.
About half of motorists killed in traffic accidents each year were not wearing seat belts. The department says the odds of being injured rise fourfold for drivers and passengers who are not belted.
