Town Police Enforcing 'Click It or Ticket'

Town of Brookfield police will be on the lookout for drivers not wearing their seatbelts during the state's 'Click It or Ticket' enforcement.

Starting Monday and running through June 3, the town police department will assign three squads per shift — one eight designated shifts during the program — to keep an extra eye out for unbuckled drivers, Town Police Chief Christopher S. Perket said.

The town is one of about 400 law enforcement agencies statewide joining the effort.

Perket said statewide traffic fatalities were higher this year compared to the same time last year.

"In all too many recent fatal crashes, the drivers and passengers were ejected from their vehicle because they were not buckled up," he said. "That’s why we’re serious about safety belt enforcement."

In 2011, nearly 85,000 convictions were made for failure to fasten seat belts, which was second only to speeding convictions, according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

"If you want to avoid the delay of being stopped and ticketed by an officer, you must buckle up every trip, every time," Perket said.

"Even more important, consistent safety belt use will protect you from being ejected from a vehicle during a crash or thrown around violently inside it and possibly hitting another person in the vehicle with massive force. There really is no rational reason to not buckle up."