Starting April, 10 Minnesota counties with the highest numbers of unbelted deaths and serious injuries will receive more seat belt patrols. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety Office of Traffic Safety is coordinating the federally funded effort. The 10 Greater Minnesota counties that will see added patrols are Cass, Itasca, Mille Lacs, Morrison, Olmsted, St. Louis, Stearns, Renville, Rice and Winona. These counties suffered 854 unbelted deaths and serious injuries during 2007-2009 combined. “Motorists may feel a false sense of security on two-lane, light traffic roads and choose not to buckle up,” says Donna Berger, director of the DPS Office of Traffic Safety. “In reality, these parts of the state are the deadliest, and lack of belt use is a main factor in why so many preventable tragedies occur in these counties.” Each year, 75 percent of unbelted traffic deaths occur on Greater Minnesota roads. According to the University of Minnesota study, since the enactment of the primary seat belt law, which requires drivers and passengers in all seating positions, including the back seat, to be buckled up, has resulted in 68 fewer deaths and 320 fewer serious injuries. The law has also reduced crash severity injuries, in which avoided $45 million in hospital charges, including $10 million in taxpayer savings for Medicaid and Medicare. The enforcement campaign will also include enforcement of Minnesota’s child passenger safety law, which requires children to use a booster seat after they have outgrown a harnessed restraint. Typically the age a child should be for a booster seat is 4 and/or 40-60 pounds, depending on the seats weight limitations. Children should remain in a booster until they are 8-years-old or 4 feet 9 inches tall, whichever comes first. DPS officials stress the importance to promote the seat belt enforcement to encourage belt use. “Our goal is not to write tickets, but to increase belt compliance,” says Lt. Eric Roeske of the State Patrol. “By promoting the enforcement, we encourage motorists to belt up, so we don’t have to remind them personally with a ticket.” The Great Minnesota seat belt enforcement campaign is a component of the state’s Toward Zero Deaths initiative. TZD focuses on four strategic areas to reduce crashes: education, enforcement, engineering and emergency trauma response.
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