During the month of May 2016, Officers will be conducting a special traffic enforcement emphasis looking for seat belt and child safety seat violations.

Seatbelts Save Lives:

• Wearing a seat belt decreases the chance of dying or being seriously injured in a collision by about 70 percent.

• Regardless of the vehicle, seat belts save lives — In 2011, NHTSA statistics show that 21,253 occupants of passenger cars, trucks, vans and SUVs were killed in motor vehicle crashes nationwide— and 52 percent were NOT wearing seat belts at the time of the fatal crashes.

• Teens and young adults are at higher risk — Among young adult passenger vehicle occupants, ages 18 to 34, who were killed in crashes, 64 percent were not buckled up—the highest percentage of any age group. The number jumps to 66 percent when only men in this age group are included.

• The numbers change, the facts don’t — 53 percent of the 121,507 passenger vehicle occupants who were killed on our roadways from 2007-2011 were not wearing their seat belts at the time of the fatal crashes, according to NHTSA. Wearing a seat belt is the single most effective way to reduce fatalities in motor vehicle crashes.

Failure to wear or properly wear a seatbelt while driving is a traffic infraction with a fine imposed in the amount of $136.00. Failure to use the appropriate child safety seat for children under the age of 8 is a traffic infraction with a fine imposed in the amount of $136.00.

Bonney Lake Police Officers for the month of May 2016 will impose a no tolerance policy on these violations and will be issuing traffic infractions in an attempt to reduce injuries and deaths that result from motor vehicle collisions.