Morris Police Department will step up seat belt enforcement in October

The Morris Police Department will be doing extra patrol from Oct. 8 through Oct. 28, looking for drivers violating Minnesota's Seatbelt Laws and Child Car Seat Laws.

During an informal seatbelt survey, more drivers are wearing their seatbelts compared to this past June. Officer's surveyed the city of Morris on two different dates and locations and noticed that approximately 90 percent of drivers are wearing their seatbelts compared to 81 percent in June.

According to Officer Reggie Welle, a seat belt is a motorist's best defense in case of a crash. He notes that in rollover crashes, unbelted motorists are usually ejected from the vehicle. In most cases, the vehicle will rollover them. In less severe crashes, unbelted motorists will crack teeth out on steering wheels or break their nose, and even slam into and injure others in the vehicle.

"The focus of this campaign is to prevent these traffic tragedies that are still far too common," Welle said. "This campaign is not about writing tickets. We are calling on motorists to be the first line of enforcing the law by speaking up and insisting all passengers are belted."