Click It or Ticket campaign kicks off Thursday

(WXYZ) - If you’re traveling during the holiday weekend, consider yourself warned: police are cracking down on seat belt safety laws.

Starting Thursday, the “Click It or Ticket” effort will kick off in several states, including Michigan and run through Sunday.

The campaign focuses on increasing awareness of and compliance with Michigan's safety belt and child passenger safety laws.

"Michigan has a primary seat belt law, which means law enforcement can stop and ticket motorists solely for not being buckled up," according to the Michigan State Police website.

Michigan law requires:

• All front seat passengers to be buckled up
• All passengers under age 16 to be buckled up, in all seating positions
• All children under age 8 to be in an approved child safety seat or booster seat, in all seating positions, unless 4' 9" tall.

During the 2009 Thanksgiving holiday, 303 passenger vehicle occupants were killed in motor vehicle traffic crashes, including 187 during nighttime hours. 

NHTSA statistics show that those least likely to buckle up are teens, young adults, males, nighttime riders, motorists traveling on rural roads, and individuals traveling in pickup trucks.