South Dakota officials are reminding people the importance of wearing a seatbelt over the holiday season. Officers across the state are giving citations to anyone riding in a car without a seatbelt.
South Dakota Highway Patrol officials say more than 60% of those killed in car accidents in South Dakota over the last five years were not wearing seatbelts. Officials say with this statistic is too high and drivers need to be aware.
Jason Husby is the District 2 Commander of the Highway Patrol. He says it doesn’t matter who you are or where you live, if you don’t buckle up you’re at risk.
“The fatal crashes we do have are somewhat consistent in some areas, we do have single vehicle rollover crashes where occupants are ejected from the vehicle and killed but that’s just one thing. It doesn’t seem to be one glaring thing as far as an area or a demographic goes. Just seems to come back to seatbelt use no matter what part of the state you’re in whether it’d be Sioux Falls or a rural ranch out by Winner,” says Husby.
Husby says being safe is even more important this time of year. He says conditions get worse with dangerous weather and more people travelling the roadways.