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Duluth Police Focus on Seatbelt Education and Enforcement in October

Each year in Minnesota, about 150 deaths and more than 400 serious injuries occur because motorists or passengers aren’t wearing seat belts, according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. To help reduce those numbers, the Duluth Police Department and Toward Zero Death Partner Agencies will increase seat belt enforcement efforts for the month of October. Our goal in this enforcement effort is to promote safety and to reduce injuries by getting motorists and passengers to buckle up.  

Minnesota’s seat belt law is a primary offense, meaning drivers and passengers in all seating positions including in the backseat must be buckled up or in the correct child restraint. Seat belts restrain motorists in the vehicle’s designed protective space, giving them room to live in the event of a crash. Seat belts also keep a motorist correctly positioned behind the wheel to help maintain control of a vehicle. Law enforcement will stop and ticket unbelted drivers or passengers – including those in the back seat. 

Seatbelts need to be properly worn and motorists often don’t realize that it’s illegal to wear the seat belt under the armpit or shoulder. Seat belts must be worn properly so that they can do what they’re designed to do in a crash, save lives.  The Duluth Police Department and Toward Zero Death Partner Agencies will engage in high-visibility traffic enforcement of state seat belt laws throughout the month.  Our hope is to save lives through education and enforcement. Crashes and collisions will happen, but when people buckle up, their chances of surviving a crash greatly increase.

Seatbelt Use Safety Tips

Always buckle up — and insist passengers are belted, too. In a crash, unbelted motorists can slam into and injure or kill others inside a vehicle.

 Wear lap belts low and snug across the hips; shoulder straps should never be tucked under an arm or behind the back — not only is this unsafe, it is illegal.

 Children under age 13 should always ride in the back seat. Kids under 4-feet 9-inches should be in a booster seat. Learn more about the child passenger safety and the booster seat law. https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/ots/laws/Pages/child-passenger-safety.aspx

 Pregnant women should wear the lap belt under the stomach, as low on the hips as possible and against the upper thighs. The shoulder belt should rest between the breasts.

 Airbags are designed to work with seat belts to keep vehicle occupants in a safe position during a crash — airbags are not effective when the motorist is not belted.