The Simi Valley Police Department is getting creative during its 2009 start-of-summer Click It or Ticket enforcement period.

On Monday a team of officers spent the afternoon at three of Simi's busiest intersections looking for people riding in cars without wearing their seat belts—but the officers were on bikes, not in patrol vehicles.

"Our bike officers would maneuver through the cars backed up in the intersections, and those they saw not wearing their seat belts they would flag over to a designated area," Lt. Joe May of the Simi Valley Police said.

According to May, the special enforcement occurred at three intersections: Cochran Street and Sycamore Avenue, Royal Avenue and First Street, and Cochran and Erringer Road.

During a five-hour period, officers gave 36 seat belt citations, 16 cellphone citations and several citations for vehicle code violations. One person was arrested and charged with driving with a suspended license.

The current Click It or Ticket mobilization lasts until May 31.

Fines and fees have gone from less than $100 to $132 this year for first-time adult seat belt violations.

For children under 16, the fine is now $435.

Police Chief Mike Lewis said during the enforcement period Simi Valley officers will not be handing out warnings.

"Seat belts save thousands of lives every year," Lewis said. "Buckling up will not only save you a heavy fine, it can also save your life. We're not giving warnings. It's Click It or Ticket."

Currently, California has a seat belt usage rate of 95.7 percent, but that means more than 500,000 people are still not buckling up, according to the California Office of Traffic Safety.

Properly restrained drivers, passengers and children have a 50 percent better chance of surviving a crash than unbelted occupants.

—Kyle Jorrey