Click It or Ticket Campaign Set to Begin in Kentucky-Kentucky Accident Attorney

Location:  Kentucky
What:   Kentucky State Police will begin a two week seatbelt enforcement blitz in May 

Even though Kentucky’s seatbelt usage has increased from 72 percent in 2007 to 73 in 2008 we as a state are still well below the national average of 83 percent.  According to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet the increase is due to the passage of the primary seatbelt law in 2006.  This law will allow officers to issue citations solely for people not wearing their seatbelts.  Before this law, officers were only allowed to issue citations to people who were not buckled up if they were pulled over for other offenses.  Officers did not have the authority to pull someone over if the only offense was that they were not buckled in.  Since the 2006 law an officer can issue a citation for not using a seatbelt even if there is no other offense.  As part of the camapign officers will be monitoring roads for drivers and passengers that are not wearing their seatbelts. 

Since the passage of this law the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has also noted that the number of traffic fatalities has gone down.  In 2005 there were 985 traffic fatalities, in 2007 the number went down to 864 and even though the Kentucky State Police are still compiling numbers for 2008 their records show that there were 842 traffic fatalities last year. 

Kentucky accident attorney Mike Schafer has said that it is always better to buckle up.  “It is your responsibility as the driver to make sure you are buckled as well as your passengers.  It is the safe and smart thing to do”