The Oakland County Sheriff’s Department Traffic Division handed out 90 violations to motorists not wearing their seatbelt during a scheduled check in Orion Township on May 28.
Deputies manned the check at the corner of M-24 and Clarkston Roads from 3-7 p.m., handing out a total of 113 violations, 90 of them for people not wearing their seatbelts. Lt. Bruce Naile of the OCSD Orion Substation said the program takes the seatbelt check to different townships in Oakland County.
“It’s because the percentage of people using their seatbelts has dropped in the State of Michigan,” he said. “The state is losing funding for the roads…so they are paying us overtime to enforce (the seatbelt law).”
Sgt. Joseph Lambourn of the OCSD Traffic Division said the program for the seatbelt check is a federal one, and was run for two weeks in Michigan, ending on June 1 with a stop in Oxford.
“It was highly successful,” Lambourn said of the Orion stop. “And we weren’t secretive about it…we put signs up at each end.”
According to the 52-3rd District Court in Rochester, the fine for a seatbelt violation is $50. The violation carries no points, and the offense is not kept on the motorist’s driving record.