CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – I’m Chris Conley, and today’s Conley Commentary is a Three-Facts-Thursday, on seatbelts.
Between now and Sunday, you must wear your seatbelt. Click-it-or-ticket enforcement runs through June 5th in Wisconsin.
True confession: I have a long and colorful history of being cited for not being buckled. I know I should. Many times I don’t. There was even one time I pled ‘not guilty’ because the officer made a mistake filling out the citation. I was hoping the city attorney reduce it to a warning instead of going to trial. Not during click-it-or-ticket. The citation was corrected, and I was fined $10.
And the best reason for buckling up, aside from personal safety, is that seatbelt violations are public records. Your auto insurance company keeps track and can adjust your rates accordingly.
Fact one: Wisconsin’s seatbelt law is a bait-and-switch. When our seatbelt law was passed in 2006, only secondary enforcement was allowed. You couldn’t be pulled over just for not being buckled. Many state lawmakers voted for mandatory seatbelts with the understanding that enforcement would be lax. Wisconsin changed to a primary seatbelt law in 2009.
Fact two: The driver is responsible that everyone in the vehicle is buckled. If your front seat passenger or your back seat baby isn’t strapped in, it’s the driver who gets the citation and pays the fine.
Fact three: Wisconsin’s seatbelt compliance is up sharply, from 66% when the seatbelt law was new, to 88% today. We’re still just below the national average of 90%. And half of all fatal crashes in Wisconsin involve unbuckled drivers or passengers.
I’m not a fan of click-it-or-ticket. The federal government gives police departments extra money to cover overtime for enforcement. It seems like a misallocation of tax dollars and police resources. But it’s not going away.
Drive safely.
I’m Chris Conley.
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