
It takes only two seconds to do.
"In 2008 51 percent of the people who died in the Troop I area were unrestrained," Trooper David Anderson with Troop I said.
But we still won't take the time to buckle our seatbelt.
Trooper Anderson said in 2008 Troop I wrote over 11-thousand seatbelt citations.
He said, unfortunately some people feel like they shouldn't buckle up and would rather pay the 25-dollar fine.
"What you're doing is putting a dollar amount of what your life is worth," Anderson said.
In Louisiana passengers in the back seat don't have to wear a seatbelt, unless they're 13 and under or weight less than 60 pounds.
What people fail to realize is, once they're in an accident and they're not buckled up…they become a projectile.
"By you not being restrained in that vehicle you're adversely affecting the other people that are in that vehicle," Anderson said.
According to a study done in 2002 the risk of death for drivers and front-seat passengers increased when rear-seat occupants were unrestrained.
In a new study, if people riding in the back seat of a vehicle would have buckled up…22 lives could've been saved in 2007.
While it’s not a law to buckle in the back seat…some Acadiana residents think it should be.
"I feel that the law should be enforced that you wear a seatbelt in the back seat."
"I think it should be a law. Obviously it's shown to save lives and make a difference."
For some residents, who don't always wear a seatbelt, there are times that will.
"I go with my grandbaby and she always says Pop Pop buckle up for me. So I buckle up for her."
In a survey conducted last year the Louisiana highway and safety commission found that only 27 percent of rear-seat passengers buckle up.


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