Saskatchewan’s seatbelt laws turn 40

It’s been 40 years since seatbelt laws came into effect in Saskatchewan, and Wednesday SGI was reminding the public just how important it is to buckle up.

Belton and Bella, two straw dummies used inside the mock crash, went flying from the vehicle in SGI’s safety squad presentation.

Tyler McMurchy, spokesperson for SGI, said he hopes the demonstration drives their message home.

“Every time a life is lost, as a result of a traffic collision, that doesn’t just affect the person — it affects everybody they know and everybody who cared about them,” said McMurchy.

While statistics have improved since they started tracking seatbelt data in 1986, some people are still not understanding the severity of not buckling up.

Last year in Saskatchewan, 25 people died and 155 were hurt in collisions due to not wearing their seatbelt.

Today, according to Transport Canada, seven per cent of vehicle occupants don’t wear their seatbelt.

Transport Canada’s data also showed that improvements are most needed in rural and First Nations communities in Saskatchewan went it comes to obeying seatbelt laws.

A seatbelt ticket costs a person $175 and three safety rating points. If passengers under 16-years-old aren’t wearing their seatbelts, the driver of the vehicle gets ticketed for each individual.

Around 4,000 seatbelt tickets were issued last year in Saskatchewan.