Starting this week, more than 200 state and local law enforcement agencies will be increasing patrols as part of the national “Click It or Ticket” campaign ahead of Memorial Day weekend.
For the next three weeks, officers will be out in full force making sure drivers and passengers are buckled up and children are properly secure.
Indiana law requires the driver and all passengers to buckle up.
Children under age eight must be properly restrained in a federally approved child car seat or booster seat.
Throughout the campaign, officers will be watching for seat belt and car seat violations while conducting high-visibility patrols during the day and night, when unrestrained driving is at its peak.
Drivers can be cited for lack of seat belt use, but also for each unbuckled passenger under the age of 16.
Their goal is to reduce the number of traffic injuries and fatalities from lack of seat belt use, which police say is a continuing concern.
Data from the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute (ICJI) shows that unbuckled motorists make up almost 40% of all passenger vehicle deaths in the state.