OPP officers are buckling up for their fall seat belt campaign on area highways and roadways.
The initiative, which starts Wednesday, sees frontline officers on the lookout for drivers and passengers who aren't wearing seat belts.
OPP Sergeant Dave Rektor says they've seen 347 deaths in the last five years that can be credited to occupants not safely wearing one.
"Every one of us is committed to the importance of seat belts. Each one of the frontline officers that I know have been at a collision, that would have been survivable, where someone had died because they were partially or fully ejected from a vehicle," says Rektor.
He adds 76% of those who died in seat belt-related crashes in the last five years have been men between the ages of 25 and 34.
"Whether that's because of bravado or feeling invincible, they need to understand the laws of gravity do not discriminate," says Rektor. "If they're not wearing a seatbelt, they're certainly going to find out, rather sadly, the importance of having one on."
The OPP's seat belt blitz runs until October 7.
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