400 seatbelt, car-seat tickets issued in February: SGI

SGI is reminding residents to buckle up after its latest traffic safety spotlight numbers show 400 seatbelt and car-seat tickets were issued across Saskatchewan last month.

People were ticketed for everything from not wearing their seatbelt to wearing it wrong to having kids riding unsafely or in ill-fitting car seats.

Along with making sure drivers buckle up, SGI is reminding people to make sure everyone riding inside their vehicle are as well. Drivers can face a $175 fine and three points on the Safe Driver Recognition scale for each person under 16 who are not buckled in properly. Passengers over 16 are responsible for their own fines.

According to SGI, the proper way to wear a seatbelt is to have the lap belt pulled tight over the hips, then the shoulder belt secured over the middle of the shoulder and across the chest.

Twenty-five per cent of people killed in crashes across Saskatchewan in 2016 were either not buckled up or improperly restrained.

Also in February, SGI numbers reveal tickets were handed out to 312 impaired drivers, 407 distracted drivers and 3,660 people who were speeding or driving aggressively.