Maine Police Stepping Up Seat Belt-Use Enforcement

Police departments across Maine are stepping up enforcement of the state's mandatory seat belt law over the next two weeks as part of the 'National Click It Or Ticket' campaign.So far in 2013, there have been 30 highway deaths in Maine, 15 of those killed were not wearing a seat belt.

The Maine Bureau of Highway Safety has distributed almost $180,000 in federal highway safety funding to 84 law enforcement agencies around Maine. That money will be used to pay for overtime patrols targeting drivers not using seat belts.

In the first three months of 2013, state police summoned 2,478 people and wrote warning to another 2,549 people for not wearing a seat belt.

Fines and court costs for the first conviction of a seat belt violation will be $70. That jumps to $160 for the second offense and $310 for the third.