September was “Occupant Restraint (seat belt) Month” for the RCMP, and it doesn’t seem that drivers have gotten the message yet.
“We were busy,” said Cpl. J.R. Michaud, head of Ashcroft’s Traffic Services.
He and his officers handed out 107 seat belt tickets in September, and 250 speeding tickets that were a consequence of checking for seat belts.
Most people are honest and say they forgot, sayd Michaud, but of those who make excuses, number one was “I was just leaving the store.”
According to the law, a driver must be wearing their seat belt before they start their engine. So the excuse that you were going to put it on once you got into traffic is not valid, he says.
There is always the exception to the rule, says Michaud, but every study will tell you it’s safer in any situation if you’re wearing a seatbelt.