In February police forces across the province stepped up seatbelt enforcement. (file photo/paNOW Staff)

By Michael Joel-Hansen

Seat belt safety

Seatbelt safety back on the public radar

Mar 27, 2019 | 5:18 PM

SGI wants people to start thinking about seatbelt safety.

The insurer recently released statistics collected last month which showed police forces across Saskatchewan issued over 400 tickets for seatbelt infractions. A total of 344 were ticketed for driving without a seatbelt. Fifteen were ticketed for not properly restraining a child in their car seat.

Tyler McMurchy, manager of media relations with SGI, said the current laws are quite clear when it comes to restraints.

“The law in Saskatchewan states, that if you are riding in a vehicle that has a seatbelt, you must be restrained by it,” he said. “You can get a ticket if your child is not in the appropriate child restraint for their size, or if they’re not wearing one at all.”

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Specifically, children weighing between 40 and 80 pounds need to be in a booster seat, while any child under 40 pounds needs to be in a car seat with a five-point harness.

“I think the most important thing is not necessarily not getting a ticket. You want to be safe in the event of that vehicle being in a collision,” McMurchy said.

Sgt. Terry Epp with the Prince Albert Police Service told paNOW officers have already issued 114 seatbelt related tickets so far this year. Sixty-nine drivers were not wearing seatbelts, 22 were passengers not wearing them and 23 tickets were issued to drivers not having children properly restrained.

Overall Epp said in his experience people do think seatbelt use is important.

“I think they do take it seriously, I don’t have numbers for the past to support it, but I definitely see the usage, the culture of wearing a seatbelt is becoming an accepted norm,” he said.

When it comes to buckling up kids, Epp said some people are not aware of the law. Others, he said, cannot afford the proper car seats. In these cases Epp said officers have the option of calling mobile crisis who can transport the child.

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MichaelJoel.Hansen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @mjhskcdn