Annual seatbelt blitz in full swing

Buckle up or pay up.
That’s the message the OPP is trying to get out to motorists during its two-week fall seatbelt campaign.
And they’re not just looking for drivers and passengers who can’t remember or can’t be bothered to click that belt.
For the duration of the campaign, which runs until Oct. 11, the OPP is placing particular emphasis on protecting those smallest and most vulnerable passengers— infants and toddlers.
That’s why six officers, along with a group of specially-trained civilian volunteers, were at the corner of Second Street East and Frenette Ave. for two hours yesterday checking vehicles.
Each vehicle that contained a child or a child seat was asked to pull into the parking lot at the Memorial Sports Centre for closer inspection.
“We’re doing spot checks on vehicles to see if they’re in compliance,” said OPP Cst. Derreck Mc- Lean, who noted up to 90 percent of motorists with child seats do not have them properly installed.
“It’s because of lack of knowledge,” he explained.
That’s why the OPP was joined on this occasion by speciallytrained civilian volunteers from the Fort Frances Volunteer Bureau, the Atikokan Native Friendship Centre, the local United Native Friendship Centre, and the Métis Nation of Ontario to check the seats and advise drivers on how to secure them safely.
“It’s not as simple as it looks,” said Tracy Jensen, a volunteer from the UNFC. “There are things people don’t see.” For instance, even approved safety seats are designed for onetime use only. If the vehicle in which the car seat is installed is involved in an accident (even if the seat isn’t occupied), it should be replaced immediately.
“Sometimes we find the seat isn’t firmly secured or attached to its tether,” Jensen observed. “It’s little things like that we try to point out.”^Cst. McLean noted failure to use an approved child seat for small children is an offence and carries the same penalty as failing to wear a seatbelt—a $110 fine and two demerit points.