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Safety Belt Enforcement Crackdown in Michigan Starts Labor Day Weekend

28 August 2000

Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning: Safety Belt Enforcement Crackdown Starts Labor Day Weekend

                    Motorists warned:  Click it or Ticket

    LANSING, Mich., Aug. 28 With a new safety belt observation
survey confirming substantially higher belt use, law enforcement agencies
around the state are setting their sights on those who are not yet complying
with Michigan's new standard enforcement safety belt law.  The Click it or
Ticket enforcement crackdown starts Labor Day weekend.
    A second direct observation survey conducted by the University of Michigan
Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) in June confirmed that belt use has
remained at more than 83 percent in Michigan.  UMTRI's first post-law survey
in March showed belt use at 83.5 percent.
    Traffic safety experts had predicted that Michigan's belt use rate could
rise 10 to 15 percent following the change in the law, based on the experience
of other states.  Before the law took effect, Michigan's belt use stood at
70 percent.
    "Motorists were reminded of the new law months before it took effect,"
said Col. Michael D. Robinson, director of the Michigan State Police.  "Now we
are telling people they can expect a ticket if they are not buckled up.  This
is a law that will be strictly enforced.
    "It is clear that our new law has had a dramatic impact on safety belt use
and in turn has saved lives.  Without strict enforcement, we risk losing the
important gains we have made so far this year," Robinson added.
    Officers, deputies and troopers will dedicate extra patrols in 20
counties, from Monday, Aug. 28, to Sunday, Sept. 10.  Funding is provided by
the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning.
    Counties receiving special overtime funds for stepped up enforcement are:
Barry, Bay, Berrien, Calhoun, Eaton, Genesee, Ingham, Kalamazoo, Lapeer,
Macomb, Marquette, Mason, Monroe, Newaygo, Oakland, Ottawa, Saginaw,
Van Buren, Washtenaw and Wayne.  Counties were eligible for funding based on
the identification of high-crash problem areas.
    Under Michigan's new law, all front seat passengers are required to wear a
seat belt.  Passengers under 16 must be buckled up, in all seating positions.
And, children under age 4 must be in an approved child safety seat, in all
seating positions.
    The Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning has supported a massive,
statewide education campaign regarding the new law.  And, according to a
recent statewide survey by EPIC-MRA, 70 percent of motorists who have heard or
seen these messages say they buckle up more frequently now.  Even more people,
82 percent, have reminded their passengers to buckle their safety belt.
    The EPIC-MRA survey, conducted in August, queried 600 people, with a
4 percent margin of error.