MIDLAND POLICE DEPARTMENT CLICK IT OR TICKET AND

REDUCED SPEEDS IN SCHOOL ZONES CAMPAIGNS

OPPORTUNITIES TO INFORM

For many drivers, getting behind the wheel can become as routine as getting dressed in the morning. An opportunity to remind drivers of various safe driving elements is the main reason the Midland Police Department participates in upcoming campaigns like the Click It or Ticket It and Reduced Speeds in School Zones.

From August 30 to September 12, the Midland Police Department will join forces with the Midland Sheriff's Office and the Michigan State Police in a statewide “Buckle Up or Pay Up, Click It or Ticket” mobilization effort.

To coincide with this effort, the Midland Police Department and Traffic Safety Team will also focus on educating drivers about the need to reduce speeds in school zones within the city of Midland.

“Our traffic enforcement responsibilities will be carried out in their usual manner; however, for the duration of this campaign, we will sharpen our focus in the areas of seat belt use and speeding in school zones. We hope that drivers will also be more aware of these two basic elements of driving and that the heightened awareness will become a habit for them,” said Midland Police Chief James Q. St. Louis.

“If we can save even one life by reminding motorists to think about safe driving, then these campaigns have accomplished their goal,” said St. Louis.

Buckle Up or Pay Up, Click It or Ticket Campaign

Law enforcement officers will take part in a concerted enforcement effort to further improve safety belt compliance by setting up enforcement zones at the locations and times listed below.

Date Start End Roadway/Zone Beginning Cross Street End Cross Street

08/30	1:00 PM	6:00 PM	NB	Saginaw	Eastlawn Dr.	Dartmouth Dr.
08/31	8:00 AM	1:00 PM	SB	Poseyville	Stewart Rd.	Miller Rd.
09/01	1:00 PM	6:00 PM	NB	Eastman	Sylvan Ln.	Dilloway Dr.
09/02	8:00 AM	1:00 PM	WB	Saginaw	Meridian Rd.
09/03	8:00 AM	1:00 PM	SB	Buttles (Bus. 10)	Ashman St.	Cronkright St.
09/07	1:00 PM	6:00 PM	SB	Saginaw	St. Andrews Rd.	Manor Dr.
09/08	8:00 AM	1:00 PM	EB	M-20	Five Mile Rd.	Meridian Rd.
09/09	1:00 PM	6:00 PM	WB	Saginaw	Sturgeon Crk Pkwy.	Perrine Rd.
09/10	8:00 AM	1:00 PM	WB	M-30	US-10	Dague

Informing motorists of the enforcement zones encourages safety belt usage. Motorists are likely to buckle up as they near an enforcement zone and then leave their seatbelt on after leaving the zone.

Listing the enforcement zones is also a requirement of the federal grant administered by the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning (OHSP), a division of the Michigan State Police. The grant funds the three off-duty Midland police officers and various State and County law enforcement officials who will enforce safety belt compliance each day of the campaign.

The State’s mandatory safety belt law requires the driver and front seat passengers to be buckled up and children under the age of four to be in an approved child safety seat. The law also requires passengers up to and including age 15 to be buckled up in either the front or back seat. In addition, drivers or passengers who have a shoulder harness placed under their arm or behind their back may be ticketed for failure to properly buckle up.

The goal of the safety belt effort is to boost Michigan’s safety belt usage rate from its new all-time high of 87 percent to 90 percent in an effort to reduce traffic-related injuries and fatalities, which tend to be highest during the Memorial and Labor Day holiday weekends. As of November 2003, Midland’s seatbelt usage rate was 81.9 percent.

Even though most people buckle up, 40 percent of the motor vehicle occupants killed in crashes in Michigan last year were unrestrained. According to the OHSP, as many as 30 lives could be saved and 390 injuries prevented if the state’s safety belt use rate increased from its current 87 percent to 90 percent.

During the 2003-2004 budget year, traffic injury accidents in Midland decreased by eight percent compared to the previous year.

School Zone Enforcement Program

In conjunction with the start of the new school year, the Midland Police Department and Traffic Safety Team will focus on educating drivers about the need to reduce speeds in school zones within the City of Midland. School zones are areas in which children travel to and from schools.

Also being monitored and enforced are school crossings where children cross busy roadways to get to and from school. Midland police officers will sporadically set up teams to monitor the areas around each of Midland’s elementary and secondary schools.

At slower speeds and with a higher awareness of children crossing streets, drivers are able to react more quickly to sudden and unexpected pedestrian behavior and driving conditions.

For more information on these safety campaigns, contact the Midland Police Department at 989-631-5716.