To keep the upcoming holiday season from becoming a time of tragedy, Merrill Police officers and Lincoln County Sheriff’s deputies will mobilize for the statewide “Booze and Belts” traffic safety campaign from Dec. 10 to 18.

“During the Booze and Belts mobilization, our officers will be out in force to prevent needless traffic deaths and injuries by arresting drunken drivers and enforcing the mandatory safety belt law,” said Lincoln County Deputy Pete Annis.

Law enforcement agencies throughout the state are cracking down on impaired and unbuckled motorists. Last year in Wisconsin, convictions for failure to fasten safety belts exceeded 100,000 for the first time in state history. There also were more than 45,000 drunken driving convictions last year in Wisconsin.

“We’re striving to save lives and prevent injuries; not to write more safety belt tickets or make more drunken driving arrests. We hope that people will voluntarily decide to buckle up and drive sober. But if they don’t, our intensified enforcement will increase the risks of getting caught,” said Merrill Police Captain Ken Neff. “We will continue our enforcement and education efforts, like the Booze and Belts mobilization, until we attain our ultimate goal of zero preventable traffic deaths in Wisconsin.”