Despite being the law for over 40 years, it appears that some people still drive around without a seatbelt.

"Unfortunately that was the case," explained Tyler McMurchy, Manager of Media Relations. "In February, police focused on seatbelts and car seats as part of the Traffic Safety Spotlight. They were looking for drivers not buckling up and they found 400 of them."

"We know that most people buckle up but the few that don't are highly overrepresented in fatal car collisions. That's why it's so important that everytime you get in a vehicle, do up your seatbelt and make sure children are restrained in the appropriate car seat or booster seat." 

"It's the number one thing you can do to increase your chance of survival in the event of a collision and you are much more likely to die or be injured in a car crash if you don't."

"25% of vehicle occupants that were killed in Saskatchewan in 2016 were either not buckled up or improperly restrained. We know that far fewer than 25% regularly don't wear their seatbelt. The best estimates are that 90-95% of people generally wear their seatbelt all the time. So that small number of people who aren't buckling up are highly represented in the fatal collisions and injury statistics."

"Fines related to seatbelts are $175 and three points of your safe driver recognition. It's important to note that if you are the driver, you are not only responsible for yourself, but you're also responsible for every passenger who is under the age of 16. So if you are driving around without a seatbelt and you have two kids in the backseat who are also improperly restrained, that's three fines."

Unbelted passengers 16 years of age or older are responsible for their own fines.

"If parents are ever wondering if their young one is fitting well inside their car seat or whether or not they should be moving up to a booster seat, SGI does hold car seat clinics. And if there isn't a car seat clinic that you can attend, you can also make a free appointment with a car seat technician in your area, simply go to SGI.sk.ca."

Police also reported a few other results:

  • 312 impaired driving offence (including 266 Criminal Code charges)
  • 407 distracted driving (324 of those for cellphone use)
  • 3,660 speeding/aggressive driving offences

READ MORE: #BuckleUp: SGI Shines Traffic Safety Spotlight on Seatbelts & Car Seats