Who Needs A Seatbelt? Cops Recently Looking for Unbuckled Drivers

Between May 23 and June 5 extra law enforcement patrolled city and county roads at night looking for unbuckled drivers.

During the patrols in Yakima and Klickitat Counties, a total of 669 citations were written, including 258 seatbelt and 76 child car seat tickets, three DUIs, nine misdemeanor drug arrests were made, in addition to 67 cell phone, 89 speeding, and 10 aggressive driving infractions that were written. As well, 63 uninsured motorists and 32 suspended/revoked license violations were issued.

Statewide, during the patrols, law enforcement officers and the WSP wrote 6,681 tickets total, including 2,994 seatbelt violations.

Studies show that a person wearing a seatbelt has a 70 percent better chance of surviving a crash than a person who is not buckled.

The Yakima County Target Zero Traffic Safety Task Force, law enforcement from Yakima and Klickitat Counties and more than 110 other police and sheriff agencies statewide worked the extra patrols, funded by a grant from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.