Many Minnesota Crash Victims Unbelted This Year

Safety officials say many of the people killed in Minnesota’s first traffic crashes of the new year were not wearing seat belts.

The state Office of Traffic Safety says eight of Minnesota’s first 10 motorists killed in 2012 were not buckled up.

Three of those unbelted victims were teenagers.

The Department of Public Safety says seat belt use also was poor last month. Preliminary reports from December 2011 show 23 motorists were killed in Minnesota and only five were known to be buckled up.

Minnesota law requires that drivers and passengers in every seat must be belted. Law officers will ticket unbelted drivers and passengers.