Minnesota's seat belt push raises belt use, lowers deaths

More than 10,000 citations were given during enforcement campaign.

Star Tribune

Last update: November 4, 2009 - 8:06 PM

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Minnesota's first statewide seat belt enforcement effort since the primary seat belt law took effect June 9 yielded more than 10,000 citations for restraint violations in a two-week period and boosted compliance to a record level, officials said Wednesday.

Minnesota Department of Public Safety officials say that educating the public and enforcement of the new law -- a campaign that ran Oct. 9 to Oct. 22 -- not only boosted seat belt use, but also helped lower the number of traffic deaths overall and among unbelted drivers and passengers.

To date, there have been 340 reported traffic deaths this year compared with 370 at this time in 2008.

Comparing unbelted deaths, there have been 44 fatalities from June 9 to Nov. 2 of this year, vs. 60 for the same period last year, the state said.

The 10,081 tickets from the campaign include 187 child-seat citations. A similar May 2009 enforcement campaign resulted in 7,189 citations.

"Law enforcement officers see the tragic results of crashes in which a motorist could have survived if they were belted, and that is their motivation ..." said State Patrol Capt. Matt Langer.

Minnesota's law allows police to pull over motorists if they spot an unbuckled driver or passenger and not just after identifying a different violation. A belt citation costs more than $100.

PAUL WALSH