A few times a year, law enforcement participate in a seat belt enforcement campaign, and the most recent in October resulted in 8,080 motorists being cited.
That was down from 8,297 from a Click It or Ticket It campagin in October 2013.
From Oct. 10-26, police from 333 agencies statewide that reported into the Department of Public Safety also wrote 217 tickets to motorists who did not have children properly secured in booster seats. There were 341 handed out for that offense last year.
The 2014 Child Passenger Restraint Survey found that 72.9 percent of children were correctly secured in a booster seat. That was up from just 64 percent three years ago. Of those who were not, 20 percent were incorrectly restrained (compared with 29 percent in 2011) and 6.8 percent were not restrained at all (7.1 percent in 2011).
An interesting finding from the 2014 booster seat survey was that drivers who wore their seat belts were more likely to have their children properly restrained. If drivers were unbelted, the percentage of properly secured children in booster seats was much lower.
Percentage of Children Properly Restrained Seat Belt Status 2011 Study 2014 Study Belted Driver 67.1 percent 74.3 percent Unbelted Driver 27.2 percent 29.7 percent Drivers of all ages in Minnesota increasingly understand the importance of child restraints for their youngest passengers, the Department of Public Safety said. The 2014 survey discovered a growing number of drivers are properly using booster seats with children in their vehicles. Percentage of Children Properly Restrained Age of Driver 2011 Study 2014 Study 16 - 29 50.9 percent 70.8 percent 30 - 59 67.2 percent 73.4 percent 60+ 63.8 percent 71.8 percent "Young children are the most vulnerable passengers in any vehicle because they rely on adults to make the right decision about seat belt use," said Donna Berger, Office of Traffic Safety director. "It's not only about being a good role model — it's about caring for the life of child. Give a child a chance and use the proper safety restraint."
