"Booze & Belts" campaign begins statewide

OSHKOSH - The DOT says 471 people have died in Wisconsin in car crashes so far this year.Over the next few days police across the area will be working on a campaign to keep that number from growing.The holiday season is a busy time on the roadways."There's a lot of traveling taking place from your house to come other place, to parties and that's why we need to be out in full force," said Officer Joe Nichols with the Oshkosh Police Department.So law enforcement agencies across the state are using grants from the DOT to participate in a campaign called "Booze and Belts.""You're gonna see increased patrols. One officer might be out just standing on the corner watching for people not wearing seat belts," Nichols explained.The campaign is focused on increasing seat belt use, and reducing drunk driving.Officers told FOX 11 those are two big factors in deadly car crashes."Wisconsin is at an all time high for seat belt usage. We're hoping the public continues that trend," said Captain Todd Christie with the Winnebago County Sheriff's Department.In Winnebago County, deputies made 220 OWI arrests through November this year. So far for the year 10 people have died on county roads, four of the crashes were OWI related."It's not just writing citations. It's the educational aspect, you know? If we don't have to write citations that means we're less likely to have crashes," Christie explained.Also educational, new, electronic DOT road signs. In between traffic times they flash the number of traffic deaths for the year."If seeing those signs reminds you to buckle up, or reminds you to drive sober then, for us, it's a real win-win," explained Mike Panosh with Wisconsin State Patrol.According to the DOT there have been 471 traffic deaths in the state this year as of Friday. Last year there were 527, which was the lowest on record since 1943."Well the good news is we're lower than we were at this time last year. So this year is on pace to be a record year too," Panosh told us.Even though it has been a low year for traffic deaths in Wisconsin, officers say it's still too many."Families are out there that are gonna be without a loved one this holiday season," said Nichols.The "Booze and Belts" campaign runs through December 20th.