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MSP launches 'Click It Or Ticket' ahead of Memorial Day weekend

Michigan law enforcement agencies are stepping up seat belt enforcement ahead of the upcoming Memorial Day weekend.

Local police departments, sheriff’s offices and the Michigan State Police are being particularly vigilant for the next few weeks for drivers and passengers 15 and younger who don’t wear their seat belts. The annual “Click It Or Ticket” comes just before the start one of the most active travel weekends of the year.

Lieutenant Brian Oleksyk with the Michigan State Police notes in 2020, one of the 12 fatalities that Memorial Day weekend was a driver who didn’t buckle up. “I can’t believe with all the messaging we put out that people fail to wear their seat belts sometimes.  It takes a second to put on but it can save you so much trouble in the end,” he says.

Drivers may face a $65 fine for not wearing their seat belts. The campaign runs through June 5.

Kevin Lavery has been news director at WKAR since September 2006.