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Sam Penrod ReportingNot wearing your seatbelt in Utah could cost you 45 dollars. For the next several weeks, police departments will be enforcing the "Click it or Ticket" program.
Anytime we get behind the wheel, there is the potential for an accident. Fortunately, it doesn't happen very often, but buckling up may be the best protection to stay safe. Today, law enforcement officers from all over the state, lined up to show support for the Click it or Ticket Program.
With more people getting ready to hit the road for the long holiday weekend, as well as summer travel, law enforcement is pleading with all of us to buckle up. Officers will issue a ticket, if you aren't buckled; it is a 45 dollar fine.
They say, unfortunately they find the threat of a fine is more of a motivator for people to buckle up than the dangers of driving without wearing your seatbelt.
Robert Flowers, Utah Dept. of Public Safety: "If sad stories would convince people to put on seatbelts, I could line up officers here and they could tell you sad stories. I've been in the emergency room with families, where what happens, is we start playing the "what if only" game. 'What if only we were going slower. What if only we had our seatbelt on.'"
Officers say don't expect a warning. In fact, they say they will give you a ticket with a smile. That's because they say they see it almost every day, people critically injured or killed because they weren't buckled up. And if they had, in many cases, they could have walked away from the crash.
Officers won't pull you over if you aren't buckled, unless you are under 18. But if you get stopped for another violation and you didn't click it, they say it will mean a ticket.
