Local agencies help kick off statewide ‘Click It or Ticket’ seat belt campaign

MADISON COUNTY, Tenn. — Honoring 30 years of seat-belt enforcement in the state of Tennessee, one of the summer’s biggest life-saving campaigns began Monday.

From now until June 5, statewide agencies including the Madison County Sheriff’s Office are cracking down on seat belt use.

Tennessee is still considered a low-use state with just 86 percent of drivers and passengers wearing their seat belt.

“You can’t buckle up when you’re in the middle of an accident — you’ve got to do it when you get the car started and you’re driving off,” Sgt. Joe Gill said. “So we’re hoping to prevent traffic fatalities and injuries throughout the Memorial Day weekend.”

Tennessee first enacted a mandatory seat belt law in 1986. That law was updated in 2004 to make seat belt violations a primary offense.