The Ontario Provincial Police stopped more than 1.24 million vehicles during this spring's campaign and laid 10,753 charges against drivers, 4,481 charges against passengers and charged 274 drivers for not having a properly installed child restraint. Four people were also killed on roads patrolled by the OPP during the campaign who were not wearing seatbelts.

On the positive side, 92 per cent of Ontario drivers were found to have been using their seatbelts.

"Ontario has one of the highest compliance rates for seatbelt use of any jurisdiction in North America," OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino said. "But there are still drivers out there who don't seem to get it. We had four people die during the campaign because they weren't buckled up. The few seconds it takes to buckle up could be the difference between living and dying if you are involved in a serious collision."

So far in 2008, 27 people not wearing seatbelts have died on OPP-patrolled roads, which is a 28.9 per cent decrease over the same time last year, when 38 people had been killed.

In Halton the good news is that 95 per cent of local motorists were buckled up-- slightly higher than the provincial average.

A total of 23,900 vehicles were observed and 1,350 people were found not to have been using their seatbelt.

However, that didn't prevent 863 people from receiving tickets from Halton officers for not using their seatbelt.

Young people, however, seem to understand the importance of seatbelt use. Halton Educational Services officers working with students, conducted seatbelt checks at local schools and of the 1,475 cars checked only six tickets and eight warnings were issued.

Seatbelts save lives. That is no longer open for debate. The sooner all drivers and passengers realize this, the better.