Tribal authorities will focus on seat belt violations

Tribal police will be focusing on ticketing seat belt violations from May 21 until June 3 in a joint effort with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The effort is part of the 2018 Click It or Ticket campaign.

“We will be out focusing on seat belt violations and issuing citations to anyone caught traveling without a buckled seat belt or transporting unrestrained children,” a press release from Colville Tribal Public Safety states.

“In 2016, 83 percent of traffic fatalities on the Colville Reservation involved an individual who was not wearing their seat belt,” the press release states. “In that same year, more than 32 million people nationally failed to buckle up while in their vehicles — that’s nearly 10 percent of drivers and passengers. … Between 2012 to 2016, seat belts saved nearly 67,000 lives.”