During the next few weeks, more than 280 law enforcement agencies across California - including the Grass Valley Police Department and local CHP - will be putting extra officers on patrol to enforce the state's seatbelt laws, police said Friday.

The "Click it or Ticket" campaign, which runs from May 12 through June 1, is a grant-funded overtime project that funds police officers for three weeks to target seatbelt offenders, said Grass Valley Police Officer Alex Gammelgard.

The goal, he said, is to increase the usage of seatbelts and child safety seats statewide.

Failure to wear a seatbelt can mean about $90 per ticket, he added.

Seatbelts reduce a person's chances of dying in a crash by 50 percent and seatbelts are the single most effective motor vehicle occupant safety device yet developed for older children and adults, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Some statistics released by the Grass Valley Police Department show adults in California are increasingly compliant with seatbelt laws, while teens are not so compliant: California's 2007 seatbelt use rate is 94.6 percent, up from 93.4 percent in 2006, fourth highest in the nation. However, California's 2007 teen seatbelt use rate is 88.9 percent, a decrease from 90.8 percent in 2006.

Also, California's 2007 child safety seat usage rate is 87.7 percent - down from 87.8 percent in 2006, Gammelgard said.

When children under age 6 are not properly secured in a vehicle, the parent or driver can receive one point on his or her driving record, in addition to a fine ranging from $330 to $401 on a first offense and between $795 and $971 on a second offense, Gammelgard said.

If the parent is not in the car, the driver gets the ticket, he added.

To contact Staff Writer Robyn Moormeister, e-mail rmoormeister@theunion.com or call 477-4236.