Buckle your seat belt, or it could cost you

LEBANON - Buckle up for safety, and to retain more of your hard-earned cash. 

State Police in Lebanon and across all of Maine will be observing their annual “Buckle Up – No Excuses” campaign cracking down on those who don’t use their seat belts over the next two weeks.

A seat belt summons in Maine costs $70 for the first offense, $160 for the second and $310 for the hat trick.

The Maine Bureau of Highway Safety has distributed just over $178,000 in federal highway safety funding to assist in the effort to pay for officer’s overtime.  The Maine effort coincides with the national campaign called “Click It or Ticket,” which involves police nationwide.

The Chief of the Maine State Police, Colonel Robert Williams said, “Too many drivers and passengers are not wearing their seat belts, and half of the highway deaths this year in passenger vehicles were victims not buckled up.” 

Williams said the two-week enforcement effort runs from today through June 2. It is similar to the beefed-up enforcement of State Troopers the first three months of the year during which time 2,478 summonses and another 2,549 warnings were handed out for not wearing seat belts.