By Bonnie Culverhouse
Motorists will likely see more Minden Police Officers patrolling the streets during the weeks of May 24-June 6, as the annual “Click It or Ticket” campaign begins.
“We will be scheduling extra officers on each shift,” Minden Police Chief Steve Cropper said. “Our officers will be enforcing this law.”
A national program, Click It or Ticket mobilization is practiced by all law enforcement agencies, including the Webster Parish Sheriff’s Office and Louisiana State Police.
Cropper said it’s been a good tool to encourage people to wear their seatbelts.
“Memorial Day weekend kicks off the summer vacation season, and we want to make sure everyone arrives at their destination,” Cropper said. “If you are not wearing your seatbelt, you will be ticketed.”
Cropper said his officers are trained to notice when a motorist is not wearing a seatbelt, even if they try to “fake it.”
“Our ticket numbers definitely go up during this campaign,” Cropper said. “We usually write up to 10 tickets during a four-hour period.”
About 61 percent of drivers do not wear their seatbelts at night, which is when the majority of unbelted fatalities occur.
Law enforcement will write citations 24-hours a day, with a zero-tolerance approach.
“We are determined to bring those numbers down,” the chief said. “There are too many people dying on the roads, and many of those deaths could have been prevented by seatbelts.”
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