The Lincoln Police Department will be conducting a seatbelt enforcement later this week. “The initiative is part of the nationwide “Make It Click” Campaign with LPD officers focusing on peak times when seat use tends to drop, which is weekends and evening,” says Public Information Manager Erika Thomas.
She says officers will conduct extra patrols citywide from May 15th through May 31st. “Drivers and front seat passengers can be cited under Nebraska seatbelt laws.” According to the Nebraska Department of Transportation, the state’s seatbelt use rate in 2024 was just over 80 percent, the fifth lowest in the nation.
Data also shows that 70 of Nebraska’s 236 traffic fatalities last year involved people who were not wearing seatbelts. Safety experts say wearing a seatbelt makes a person 45 percent more likely to survive a crash.
The campaign also emphasizes proper child restraint use and is funded through the Nebraska Department of Transportation Highway Safety Office.