Extra patrol yields fewer seat belt, texting infractions this year

From staff reports

This year’s Click It Or Ticket campaign resulted in 286 seat belt infractions and 70 texting-while-driving infractions in eastern Washington.

Funded by the Washington Traffic Safety Commission, the campaign sent extra law enforcement officers on patrol from May 19 to June 1 in search of drivers not wearing seat belts.

The number of seat belt tickets is down slightly from previous years, while the number of texting infractions is down significantly from the 2013 campaign.

The campaign involved law enforcement officers across the Spokane, Whitman, Pend Oreille and Ferry counties who issued five DUIs, one felony and three misdemeanor warrant arrests, 100 speeding violations, and 15 child passenger safety infractions.

During the same time last year, officers on extra patrols statewide issued 2,963 seat belt violations and 1,897 citations for texting and cell phone use.

Local agencies that participated in the crackdown were the Colfax, Pullman and WSU police departments, the Whitman County Sheriff’s Office and the Washington State Patrol.