Be buckled up, or beware.

Officers with the West Virginia University Department of Public Safety will be manning aClick It or Ticketseat belt checkpoint from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, March 10, on the Evansdale campus near the Evansdale Residential Complex (Towers).

The officers will be passing out literature about seat belt safety and checking to make sure motorists and their passengers are buckled up, said Officer Richard McGee.

Those who aren’t will be pulled over and issued a $10 citation they can pay at the WVU parking office in the University Services Center, McGee added.

The WVU checkpoint coincides with the statewideClick It or Ticketcampaign that began Sunday, March 7, and will continue through Wednesday, March 17.

The Governor’s Highway Safety Program launched theClick It or Ticketprogram in 2001 to reduce traffic-related deaths and injuries in West Virginia. During the campaign, state and local law enforcement agencies make seat belts a priority during routine traffic stops.

Seat belts save an estimated 9,500 lives a year, according to the program’s Web site ( http://www.wvdot.com/6_motorists/safety/index.HTM ). Proper use of lap and shoulder belts reduces the risk of fatal injury to front-seat car occupants by 45 percent and the risk of moderate-to-critical injury by 50 percent.