Despite warning road users ahead of the long weekend and their high visibility throughout the weekend, OPP laid 1,524 seat belt charges during their Easter Long Weekend Seat Belt Campaign, says a news release.
The charges mark a five-year high in Easter Long Weekend seat belt offences. With 10 seat belt-related deaths on OPP-patrolled roads so far this year.
"Regionally we've laid 127 tickets for seatbelts in the campaign," Sgt. Carlo Berardi told BayToday. "That's more than double from last year. It's very concerning. It is 2018 and vehicle manufacturers are producing these vehicles with all types of safety equipment in them and warning systems. If you don't put your seatbelt on there is an audible system that tells you it's not on."
Regional Traffic Inspector Scott Hlady says he's at a loss to explain why the numbers are so high.
"It's a surprise. It kind of takes us off guard a little bit. all the safety things they put on cars doesn't mean anything if you're not strapped to the seat.
"We still have people that ignore the alarm or clip the seatbelt behind them and bypass the alarm somehow to avoid wearing it. It's highly dangerous. There are a lot of collisions that we've had where people are seriously injured or killed solely based on the fact that they weren't wearing their seatbelt."
