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SALT LAKE CITY — Law enforcement agencies across Utah will be stepping up enforcement of Utah's seat belt laws from Friday to Monday. The Utah Department of Public Safety is trying to make it difficult for anyone to claim they weren't warned.
The department said 18 agencies around the state will work more than 120 overtime shifts this weekend to stop and educate motorists who aren't wearing seat belts. It is also running a "Defy Death" campaign on social platforms that features the Grim Reaper trying to persuade drivers not to buckle up.
It is hoped the message will reach those who resist the standard "Click It or Ticket" message, the department said.
Despite a big majority of those in cars using seat belts, the number killed while not wearing them remains high.
Sgt. Cameron Roden with the Utah Highway Patrol said over the last five years nearly a third of occupants killed in roadway deaths were not wearing seat belts, but in 2023 it was even higher at 43%.
"Seat belts are the single most effective traffic safety device by helping occupants stay in place, avoid becoming projectiles, and help drivers maintain control of the vehicle in a crash," Roden said. "They save about 15,000 lives a year."
Seat belt use was up to 92.4% in 2023, according to Department of Public Safety statistics.
In 2023, there were 64 people killed without seat belts and more than half happened between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m., when there is less traffic and more deaths because, the department said, during those hours seat belt use tends to decrease.
