Local News - September 2003

90 cited in ‘Click It’ campaign

By ALICE SMITH, Staff Writer

————————————

Lincoln County authorities were out in droves Friday to kick off the fall Click It or Ticket campaign

Local agencies handed out 90 citations during three traffic checkpoints and one moving saturation patrol held Friday morning.

“I continue to be amazed that on any day of the week, we can issue 90 citations in just a few hours,” said 1st Sgt. Doug Norwood with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.

Charges included Driving While License Revoked, no operator’s license, no insurance, open container of alcohol, seat belt, child restraint and equipment violations, Norwood said.

The most common serious  violation was people driving after their license had been revoked, Norwood said.

The sheriff’s office, Lincolnton Police Department, N.C. Highway Patrol and N.C. Department of Motor Vehicles participated in the campaign.

At around 10 a.m., authorities set up in front of Cinema IV on North Aspen Street. The location provided officers with space to pull violators off the road, Norwood said.

The agencies then camped out on the U.S. 321 North off-ramp just off East Main Street, and later started checking drivers leaving Lincolnton on the north on-ramp.

Troopers and deputies also conducted a moving saturation patrol on U.S. 321. The multi-lane road is Lincoln County’s second highest accident corridor, Norwood said.

After being on the look-out for just a few minutes, troopers had already issued a number of tickets.

Troopers B.E. Hipp and B.Y. Hill simultaneously stopped two drivers on the U.S. 321 South on-ramp in Maiden.

In half an hour, Hill had issued seven citations for drivers or passengers not wearing seat belts, and Hipp had written out five.

Enforcing the use of safety belts is one of the patrol’s priorities, troopers said. Troopers’ current action plan calls for at least 90 percent compliance.

“We can’t prevent all accidents from happening, but we can reduce injuries by making sure people wear seat belts,” Hipp said.

During the statewide Click It or Ticket campaign that ran May 16 to June 1, Lincoln County was No. 2 in North Carolina for seat belt use. About 94 percent of Lincoln drivers buckled up, an increase of 6.6 over last year’s totals.

Officials attributed the increase to efforts by the patrol, as well as the sheriff’s office’s new Traffic Enforcement Team.

“All of the agencies involved in today’s operation are dedicated to making the streets, highways and roads of this county safe for the motoring public,” Norwood said.

Click It or Ticket, now in its 10th year, is an initiative of the Governor’s Highway Safety Program of the N.C. Department of Transportation.

—————

Staff Writer Alice Smith can be reached at 704-735-3031 or alicesmith@ltnews.com

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

Terms and Conditions