By Dan Klepal
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Drivers who don't wear their seat belts during the next two weeks could end up reaching into their wallets.

Starting on Monday and running through June 4, law enforcement agencies all over Greater Cincinnati will join a national campaign aimed at getting drivers - and their passengers - to buckle up.

A $30 million national advertising blitz will accompany a stepped-up effort by some 12,000 law enforcement agencies - including nearly every agency in the region - to crack down on unrestrained motorists.

The program, called "Click It Or Ticket," first started in 1997. The program happens twice a year, around Memorial Day and Thanksgiving. Police are expected to write tickets for every seat belt infraction they find, but locally, some agencies still issue warnings instead.

Surveys show only 68.2 percent of people in Greater Cincinnati "always" wear their seat belts. That percentage lags significantly behind the national average of 76.6 percent and the statewide averages in Kentucky (74.3 percent), Indiana (76.8 percent) and Ohio (76.3 percent).

The point is to get people into the habit of wearing their seat belts, not just to write more tickets - although the threat of a fine does seem to work, said Loveland Police Chief Dennis Rees.

Tickets can cost $60 to more than $100, depending on the jurisdiction.

"The tickets are the stick," Rees said. "Used to be that when a person would pull up next to a police car they'd turn down their stereo. Now they're clicking their seat belts."

The program has been less effective in Ohio and Kentucky than some states because officers here can't pull over unrestrained adults, unless there is some other infraction involved. Other states consider seat belt violations "primary" infractions, which can be the basis of a traffic stop.

The rate of seat belt usage in states where infractions are a primary offense is 11 percentage points higher than states, like Ohio and Kentucky, where it is a secondary offense.

Sgt. Rick Zwayer, spokesman for the Ohio Highway Patrol, said his agency would like to see a change in that law. But, he said, the current law doesn't take any steam out of the program.

"We believe making seat belt infractions a primary violation would reduce the number of tickets we write and increase compliance," Zwayer said. "But we have to work within the system we have in place. Our officers are very passionate about enforcing the seat belt law because they see the injuries and fatalities every day."

Kenton County Sheriff Chuck Korzenborn said Click It Or Ticket is a good program, but his deputies are free to hand out warnings instead of tickets during the two-week period.

"I like the warnings because people need time to adjust," Korzenborn said. "And every stop is an educational opportunity."

The thrust of this year's campaign focuses on teenagers - who are most likely to be involved in crashes and least likely to wear a seat belt. Teens are twice as likely as adults to be killed in car wrecks.

U.S. Department of Transportation statistics show that young adults, age 16-24, are using seat belts more this year than last, at an increase of about 7 percentage points. Program officials in Washington, D.C., say that increase is due, in part, to a successful program last year.

The TV spots, which will air on all networks, show people driving without their seat belts. They get a ticket, then buckle up. The ads will be played during programs that appeal to a younger audience, such as Fear Factor, Major League Baseball games and the NBA conference finals.

E-mail dklepal@enquirer.com