Click It Or Ticket Seat Belt Enforcement Campaign Begins on Monday

Law enforcement in Cowley County will join almost 150 other law enforcement agencies in aggressively enforcing seat belt usage and other laws as part of the 2018 Kansas Click It or Ticket traffic enforcement campaign.

Beginning Monday and continuing through June 3, drivers can expect increased police presence on county streets and roadways. This activity is supported by grants from the Kansas Department of Transportation.

Police in Ark City and Winfield, as well as the Cowley County Sheriff’s Dept., are participating.

“The police department is committed to making city streets safer through aggressive enforcement efforts aimed at seat belt use, child safety, speeding and distracted driving violators. We ask that all drivers in Arkansas City buckle up, slow down and drive with caution,” said Police Chief Dan Ward.

The aim of Click It or Ticket is to reduce drastically the number of preventable deaths and injuries that occur when unbelted drivers and passengers are involved in traffic crashes.
Almost half of those killed in crashes each year on Kansas roads are not belted in, according to KDOT. At the same time, 98 percent of crash occupants who suffer no injuries of any kind are belted in.

In general, unrestrained occupants who are involved in a crash have, at most, only about an 8-percent chance of not suffering some sort of injury. Drivers can prevent this simply by taking the few moments necessary to buckle up and ensure that their passengers also are secured properly.

Starting next week, drivers can expect strict enforcement of both the Safety Belt Use Act and the Child Passenger Safety Act, which require that all vehicle occupants be restrained appropriately.

Law enforcement officers can stop vehicles and issue tickets when they observe front-seat occupants or children younger than 14 years old who are riding without proper restraint.
Occupants who are 14 or older are cited individually. The driver will be cited if a passenger younger than 14 is unrestrained. Children younger than 4 must be secured in an approved child safety seat.

Children aged 4 through 7 must be belted securely into an approved booster seat, unless they are taller than 4 feet, 9 inches or heavier than 80 pounds. Children aged 8 through 13 must be safety-belted.

In addition, the Child Passenger Safety Act prohibits children younger than 14 from riding in any part of a vehicle not intended for carrying passengers, such as a pickup truck bed.