Seat belts, car seats and booster seats: First line of defense in a crash!
You may be the perfect driver but it might just be that distracted driver, the deer jumping out of the woods or a drunk driver that blows through an intersection that hits your vehicle.
“A seat belt is the first line of defense if you are in a crash, without it, it’s like riding that rollercoaster without any Protection,” said Mark Griffith, executive director, South Central Minnesota EMS Regional System.
To help educate south central Minnesota residents about the importance of buckling up in every seat, every time they step in the vehicle, officers, deputies and troopers are working extra enforcement shifts.
The efforts are part of the statewide Click It orTicket campaign that runs through June 3.
Seat Belts Save Lives
In the past five years (2011 – 2015), 10 children (ages 0–7) who were not properly restrained died in crashes on Minnesota roads and 69 children (ages 0-7) seriously injured in motor vehicles, only 41 percent of the victims were known to be properly secured.
By wearing your seat belt, you can reduce your risk of fatal injury by 45 percent and your moderate to critical injury risk by 50 percent (as reported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration)
The Good News and Bad News For those choosing not to buckle up, the results are tragically hurting families across Minnesota, Iowa and South Dakota
Minnesota
According to the 2017 Minnesota Observational Seat Belt Survey, 92 percent of front seat occupants are wearing their seat belts.
In 2017, preliminary numbers show 73 unbelted motorists have lost their lives on Minnesota roads.
In a five year period (2013 – 2017), 443 unbelted motorists lost their lives on Minnesota roads.
In 2017, 73 percent of the unbelted deaths occurred in Greater Minnesota (outside the seven-county metro area).
Severe injuries are going down in Minnesota.
In 1987, there were 4,176 vehicle occupants who suffered severe injuries in traffic crashes.
That number dropped to 1,317 in 2016.
IOWA
The seatbelt compliance rate in Iowa for 2017 is 91 percent. In 2017, there were 330 fatalities on Iowa roadways, 107 of those fatalities were individuals that were not buckled up.
Over the last five years (2013 to 2017), 545 unbelted motorists lost their lives on Iowa roads.
South Dakota
Not using seatbelts is one of the leading factors in South Dakota motor vehicle fatalities.
In 2018, of the 32 motor vehicle fatalities in South Dakota where seatbelts could have been used, 21 of the fatalities were unbelted.
Speak Up about Buckling Up
An unbelted motorist can crash into a windshield and get thrown into other passengers.
Often times, an unbelted occupant is ejected from the vehicle and killed. Drivers are in charge of their vehicles and of the safety of their passengers.
They can refuse to start the car until every passenger is belted. Passengers also can speak up if the driver is endangering everyone in the vehicle by not buckling up.
The Law is for Safety Minnesota law states that drivers and passengers in all seating positions must be buckled up or seated in the correct child restraint.
Officers will stop and ticket unbelted drivers or passengers. Seat belts must be worn correctly — low and snug across the hips, and shoulder straps should never be tucked under an arm or behind the back.
Currently under Iowa Law, the driver and front seat passenger and only rear seat occupants under the age of 18 are required to buckle up.
Minnesota Child Car Seat Law and Steps
In Minnesota, all children must be in a child restraint until they are 4’9” tall, or at least age 8, whichever comes first.
Rear-facing child seats - Newborns to at least 1 year and 20 pounds; recommended up to age 2. It is safest to keep a child rear-facing as long as possible.
Forward-facing seats - Age 2 until around age 4. It's preferable to keep children in a harnessed restraint until they reach the maximum weight limit.
Booster seats - Use after outgrowing a forward-facing harnessed restraint; safest to remain in a booster until 4 feet 9 inches tall, or at least age 8, whichever comes first.
Seat belts - Use when children can sit with their back against the vehicle seat and have their knees bent comfortably over the edge with their feet touching the floor.
Minnesota Toward Zero Deaths
The Click It or Ticket seat belt enforcement and education is a component of the state’s Toward Zero Deaths (TZD) program.
A primary vision of the TZD program is to create a safe driving culture in Minnesota in which motorists support a goal of zero road fatalities by practicing and promoting safe and smart driving behavior.
TZD focuses on the application of four strategic areas to reduce crashes – education, enforcement, engineering and emergency trauma response.