Police lock on to seat belt initiative

By Jennifer Eisenbart

Staff writer

Over the past several months, the City of Burlington Police Department has stepped up its efforts in seat belt enforcement.

That extra attention – thanks to a $25,000 grant from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Safety – is paying off, Police Chief Peter Nimmer said Tuesday.

“The true purpose of it is to gain compliance,” said Nimmer, whose department will be stepping up efforts again from March 5-21. “We’ve found over the last couple of months we’ve been having the directed enforcement on seat belts, our officers are consistently stopping motorists who aren’t wearing seat belts.”

The grant, according to Nimmer, came with the stipulation that the city increase patrols during key times – with the grant paying for the overtime and extra patrols.

Among the times with the extra police presence is the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day holiday. The department will also be stepping up drunken driving enforcement.

“During the St. Patrick’s Day mobilization and throughout the year, we are striving to prevent motorists from killing and injuring themselves and others,” Nimmer said. “Although we’re trying to increase voluntary compliance with traffic laws – not to write more tickets or make more arrests – we will take enforcement action if voluntary compliance fails.

“We are serious about traffic safety enforcement because far too many needless deaths and serious injuries are due to drunken driving and not wearing seat belts.”