Residents Reminded to ‘Click it or ticket’

Officials with state and local law enforcement agencies as well as doctors at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center and a survivor of a horrendous highway collision who credits her survival to seat belts are all reminding people to buckle their seat belts every time they get in a car.

At a news conference Thursday morning at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center Amy Jones recalled a 2007 collision near Wheatland . She says a Ford Explorer driven by an elderly woman drifted into the oncoming lane of traffic. She swerved to avoid the vehicle, but was only partially successful  as the two cars collided on the passenger side. Jones says that side of her car "opened like a tin can", while the Explorer rolled over her car before coming to rest in the highway. But she says because both she and the other driver were wearing seat belts, both survived what could have been a fatal collision with only minor injuries.

Col. John Butler of the Wyoming Highway Patrol says troopers are under standing orders to enforce a "zero tolerance" policy on seat belts, issuing a citation every single time they find someone not wearing one. Butler notes not wearing a seat belt is only a secondary offense in Wyoming, meaning a person can only be ticketed for not wearing one if the vehicle is stopped for another offense. But he says he hopes that law eventually is changed.