We recently wrote about a law enforcement campaign that ran in Colorado and throughout various cities and states in the U.S. this summer. The campaign is called Click It or Ticket. It is meant to encourage motorists to use their seat belts. For those who are pulled over and unbuckled, they are be cited for a traffic violation.
When the Click It or Ticket campaign is running, more law enforcement is put on the streets, vigilantly looking for motorists who aren’t using seat belts whom they can ticket. The most recent campaign in the state just ended in early June. But Colorado drivers haven’t gotten much of a break.
According to local reports, the campaign is back on in certain Colorado counties for a few days. Beginning on Saturday, Jul. 23 and ending tomorrow night, law enforcement in Denver will again be on the intense lookout to find unsecured motorists.
The difference in the campaign this time around is that officials are targeting drivers and passengers who don’t buckle up at night. Between the hours of 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., police will ticket you if you are pulled over and not wearing a seat belt. Federal grants to support this effort were provided because of the reported higher rate of nighttime traffic fatalities involving the lack of seat belt use compared to daytime numbers.
While officials insist that this campaign is important because of the safety message it sends to the Colorado community, cynics can’t help but suspect that Click It or Ticket is primarily about the government making money. Sources say that enforcing seat belt use protects motorists from drunk drivers. Then, however, isn’t citing someone for not wearing a seat belt punishing them for the behavior of others?
Please, share your insights.
Source
Coloradoan.com: “Police begin nighttime seatbelt patrols,” 23 Jul. 2011