VAN BUREN (KFSM) — As part of a national seat belt campaign, one local police department has reminded motorists of the safeties of wearing a seat belt.
The Van Buren Police Department will increase enforcement from May 16 – June 5, according to a release from Cpl. Jonathan Wear.
“Every day, unbuckled motorists are losing their lives in motor vehicle crashes,” Wear said in the release. “As we approach Memorial Day weekend and the summer vacation season, we want to make sure people are doing the one thing that can save them in a crash: buckling up.”
The release stated that more than half of the passenger vehicle occupant deaths that occurred without the use of a seat belt were from 6 p.m. – 5:59 a.m. VBPD stated that one of the focuses of this campaign would be to nighttime enforcement.
“The bottom line is that seat belts save lives. If these enforcement crackdowns get people’s attention, and get them to buckle up, then we’ve done our job,” added Wear.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly half of the 21,022 passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes in 2014 were unrestrained. At night, that number soared to 57 percent of those killed.
