Between May 19 and June 1, extra law enforcement patrolled King County roads looking for unbuckled drivers and passengers and cell-phone-using texters and talkers during the “Click it or Ticket” program.

During these patrols, 388 seatbelt infractions were written, in addition to 426 cell-phone/texting tickets. Last year, in King County, during this same time period, officers on extra patrols wrote 387 seat belt infractions and 322 cell-phone violations.

One unbelted driver attempted to flee police and crashed his car. A stolen firearm was recovered from the vehicle and the driver and three occupants inside were arrested for outstanding warrants. In addition, 13 DUI, one felony and 10 additional misdemeanor warrant arrests were made during the campaign.

Four minors were arrested for consuming alcohol as a result of a seat belt stop. Five of the six teens in the car were not belted, including the driver who was violating her intermediate driver’s license.

Last year, during the same time period, officers on extra patrols statewide issued 2,963 seat-belt violations amongst the 11,666 motorists who were stopped and 1,897 cell-phone and texting violations were written.

In King County, the Auburn, Bellevue, Black Diamond, Burien, Covington, Federal Way, Issaquah, Kent, Kirkland, Lake Forest Park, Maple Valley, Mercer Island, Port of Seattle, Redmond, Renton, Sammamish, SeaTac, Seattle, Tukwila and Woodinville police departments as well as the Washington State Patrol worked the extra patrols, with the support of the King County Target Zero Task Force and a grant from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.

These and all extra patrols are part of Target Zero—striving to end traffic deaths and serious injuries in Washington by 2030. For more information, visit www.targetzero.com. Additional information on the Washington Traffic Safety Commission can be found at www.wtsc.wa.gov.