MISSOULA – The Missoula Police Department is asking that you buckle your seatbelt as the national Click It or Ticket campaign that will continue over Memorial Day weekend.
MPD says that only 78% of Montanans wear their seatbelts and in 2017 and that 93 people died from vehicle accidents between May and August. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says that many of those deaths could have been prevented by wearing a seatbelt.
Some people might think that not wearing a seatbelt might be safer, but Missoula Police Traffic Sergeant Greg Amundsen says otherwise.
"There are a lot of people think in certain circumstances they might be safer by not having a seatbelt on. Personally, I’m going to go with the high percentage odds," Sgt. Amundsen said.
"You know the odds of you being saved by not wearing a seatbelt are very very poor, and it is the easiest and most efficient safety measure you can take when you’re driving a car," he added.
MPD will have extra patrols out in an effort to reach the Vision Zero initiative goal of zero deaths and zero injuries on Montana roadways.
