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Samantha Hayes Reporting Wherever you're heading, make sure to buckle up. Our law enforcement agencies will be ticketing hundreds of drivers, one age group in particular. With the Click it or Ticket campaign, officers targeting and ticketing young drivers because they are at the highest risk for crashes. And this is a big weekend with high school graduation and Memorial Day.
How many times have you said or been told, "Don't forget to buckle up." It's almost embarrassing when you hear it from an officer.
Officers are ticketing anyone they see unbuckled, but are mostly concerned with young drivers.
Dep. Gloria Miller, Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office: "I hear different stats, but it's the leading cause of death in teens, is traffic accidents. We want to keep them as safe as possible and part of that we feel is wearing a seatbelt."
Deputy Gloria Miller catches one young woman rolling through a stop sign.
Dep. Gloria Miller: "Have you seen Click It or Ticket?" "Yeah I've heard about it." "We're targeting younger kids because you're more likely to be hurt or killed, so I want to thank you for wearing your seatbelt."
Drivers 20 to 24-years old were the largest percentage involved in crashes reported by UHP in 2004. And the majority of fatal crashes happen during the summer months.
Robbie Russo, Salt Lake County: "We pull them over and they try to get a seatbelt on before officers walk up, but it's too late by then."
No one likes to get pulled over for any reason, but many drivers actually thanked deputies for the safety check.
Throughout the summer, troopers will be stopping all drivers in some locations to check seatbelts.
