MPI’s recently released road safety observation study finds non-seatbelt use is higher is northern and rural communities, while people using their phones while behind the wheel is more common in Winnipeg.

 

Media Relations Coordinator Brian Smiley says they observed three northern communities in the study commissioned in September: Thompson, Flin Flon, and The Pas.

 

Smiley explains roughly 29 hundred vehicles were observed, and in that time period around ten per cent of drivers weren’t wearing their seatbelt.

 

He says the data collected through the study will help MPI and local law enforcement when it comes to tailoring their messaging and roadside checks in regards to dangerous driving behaviors that were observed in the study.

 

A person not wearing a seatbelt while in a moving vehicle is 50 times more likely to get killed when involved in a crash.

 

Hear the full interview about the study on Thompson Today at 12:40 and 5:10 this afternoon.