OPP stepping up seatbelt enforcement efforts

OPP discovered a van equipped with a recliner in the front passenger seat during a seatbelt check on Highway 417. Police are currently stepping up seatbelt enforcement efforts throughout the province.

PHOTO CREDIT - OPP

S, D and G - Apr. 13, 2011 - Members of the Ottawa OPP detachment got quite the surprise on Wednesday while conducting seatbelt checks on Highway 417.

During the checks, police stopped a van in which the front passenger seat had been replaced with an unbolted recliner seat.

The 33-year-old driver was charged and the vehicle was removed from the road as an unsafe vehicle.

The unusual discovery was made during the OPP's 2011 Spring Seatbelt Campaign.

The province-wide campaign kicks off Wednesday and runs until April 23. During that time, the OPP will be stepping up enforcement throughout the province to ensure that motorists and passengers buckle up.

According to police, the use of a seat belt is the single most effective way to reduce the chance of injury or death in a motor vehicle collision.

The OPP will be focusing their efforts on child restraints during this campaign to raise awareness about the need to properly restrain children in a vehicle. A properly used child seat reduces a child’s risk of injury in a crash by as much as 75 per cent, yet many child car seats are incorrectly used or improperly installed.

When used correctly, a booster seat provides 60 per cent more protection than a seatbelt alone, police note. In a collision, children using seatbelts instead of booster seats are three and a half times more likely to suffer significant injury, and four times more likely to suffer head injury.

Cornwall police are also keeping a lookout for seatbelt infractions throughout the month of April.