VIDEO: More Mississippians Are Apparently Buckling Up

STARKVILLE and WEBSTER COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – More Mississippians are apparently buckling up.

State troopers issued fewer seat belt citations this 4th of July than years past.

During the holiday travel period, they wrote 199 tickets for seat belt violations.

Last year, that number was more than 400.

Last week, we told you about the new Mississippi seat belt law that went into effect this past Saturday.

It requires everyone to click it or ticket, no matter where they’re sitting in a car.

Some may think more seat belt tickets would have been given out this year because of that new law, but that’s not the case.

Fireworks come out with a big bang on the 4th, and so does law enforcement.

“Just the overall feeling because it’s a holiday weekend and people know that that’s going to be a time when law enforcement cracks down on safety because of the high volumes of traffic,” says Master Sergeant Criss Turnipseed.

Heavy police presence and public awareness are two reasons why Turnipseed believes fewer tickets were handed out.

“Public service announcements about the new seat belt law, spreading awareness through television, you know, radio. Of course, social media gets a lot of looks.

Webster County Chief Deputy Jeff Mann says traffic violations are down across the board.

Mann says although there were fewer citations, it doesn’t mean it will stay that way.

“Actually, there will be a drastic difference in the amount of seat belt tickets, any of the stuff like that. When they know they’re going to be out there in full force, you know, everybody abides by the law a lot better, but then, it just starts dwindling down back to the normal effect, I guess you could say.”

Starkville Resident Breanna Rochelle says regardless if it’s a holiday or a random weekday, she’s always going to be buckled in.

“I think seat belts save more lives than they take, so they’re defiantly important.”

And Turnipseed agrees and says seat belts will do their part, if we do our part and put them on.

“We can only be out there and do so much and write so many tickets for not wearing a seat belt, but ultimately it’s down to the driver and their passengers. Their responsibility to do it for the safety reasons, that’s the priority. You want to do it because of safety. Don’t do it because of a fine because if you’re doing it just because of a fine, then you’re doing it for the wrong reasons.”