With Michigan’s October Click It or Ticket enforcement campaign now complete, preliminary reports indicate law enforcement officers from 96 police departments, sheriff offices, and Michigan State Police posts in 36 counties conducted 7,227 traffic stops resulting in 2,108 seat belt and child restraint citations between Oct. 17 and Halloween.

In addition to issuing seat belt violations, officers during the Click It or Ticket campaign issued 1,199 speeding citations, made nine alcohol-and-drug-related arrests, and 38 other felony arrests.

“Motorists need to remember that buckling up is the easiest thing they can do to reduce traffic fatalities and injuries on Michigan roads,” said Michael L. Prince, director of the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning (OHSP). “Our goal is to save lives, not write tickets. Remember to buckle up every trip, every time, every passenger.”

Seat belt use in Michigan stands at 94.4 percent, higher than the national seat belt use rate of 89.6 percent in 2018, according to the statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Buckling up can reduce the risk of serious injury or death by 45 percent. In Michigan, 192 people killed in traffic crashes in 2018 were not wearing a seat belt.

The Click or Ticket effort is funded through federal highway safety grants and coordinated by the OHSP. Michigan law requires drivers, front seat passengers, and passengers age 15 and younger in any seating position to be buckled up. Children must be in a car seat or booster seat until they are eight years old or 4-feet, 9-inches.