Buckle Up or Pay

Are you $25 short? Perhaps you've already run out of meal points or spent too much time at the campus poster sale. Many Hoosiers are short in the pocketbook due to the latest installment of the "Click it or Ticket" program. The nationwide program to promote seat belt use started locally Aug. 25 and runs through Sept. 8. If anyone is caught without his seat belt, they're fined $25.\nThe Governor's Council on Impaired and Dangerous Driving of the Criminal Justice Institute decides how many "blitzes" (enforcement periods) there will be per year. Police departments from across the nation can then apply for a grant to fund the program, said Sgt. Tim Lewis of the IU Police Department. \nDrivers entering an "enforcement zone" are warned to buckle up by a large orange sign prior to entering. Police officers then stop cars and check to see if both driver and passengers are wearing safety belts. \nBut on campus, police officers have been restricted to monitoring intersections because there is not enough room for a full enforcement zone. \nAlthough official results for the current blitz will not be available until after Sept. 8, local law enforcement officials said they are convinced the program is effective. \n"The program has seen continued success," said Lt. Jerry Minger of IUPD. "There have been fewer tickets, but more importantly, fewer accidents with injuries."\nMinger said the program viably addresses the most common cause of accidents -- driver inattention. \nHe said he believes it is a problem that drivers are still being caught without seat belts in the enforcement zones, despite being warned by a bright orange sign prior to entering. \n"This program is also an attempt to make drivers more aware of their surroundings," Minger said. \nLewis is in charge of applying for the grant to fund the "Click it or Ticket" program. He said the statistics are proof of the program's progressive success. \nSeat belt use is now close to 80 percent; before the program was installed, only 60 percent of the community wore seatbelts, Lewis said. \nEven students who have been nabbed driving without a seat belt seem to approve of the program's message. Sophomore Missy Niswonger, who has been ticketed on several occasions for seat belt infractions, said she sees the positives of "Click it or Ticket."\n"Even though I've been ticketed, the program is beneficial because the statistics show that seat belts save lives," Niswonger said. \nAccording to IUPD release, an average of 9,500 lives are saved each year because of seat belts.