Nova Scotia RCMP are reminding drivers and their passengers to protect themselves by buckling up every time they get into a vehicle.
In 2019, Nova Scotia RCMP laid over 1,523 charges against people who were not wearing their seatbelts or were wearing them incorrectly.
Last year, RCMP responded to 41 serious and fatal collisions where at least one person in the vehicle was not wearing their seatbelt or was wearing it improperly.
According to the Canada Safety Council, seatbelts save about 1,000 lives a year in Canada.
In 2018, Transport Canada reported nearly 30 per cent of drivers and 32 per cent of passengers killed in crashes were not wearing a seatbelt.
“I’ve seen collisions where vehicles were in pieces and wreckage covered the road but the people wore seatbelts and walked away,” Cpl. Lisa Croteau of the Nova Scotia RCMP, said in a press release.
“Seatbelts are your final line of defense in a collision. They work to keep you in a place so you aren’t thrown into other people, the window, dashboard or road.”
RCMP say the driver is responsible for ensuring any passengers under 16 are wearing a seatbelt.
If a child is nine years and older or four-feet-nine inches tall they can use an adult seatbelt. Otherwise, children must be buckled into to a proper car seat or booster seat that follows the regulations under Canada’s Motor Vehicle Safety Act.
Violations of the law add two points to your licence with fines starting at $180. Not wearing your seatbelt or wearing it the wrong way in Nova Scotia can result in the same consequences.