Foolish to not use seat belts

It defies logic.

Experts tell us that properly securing seat belts saves lives, yet one out of every five Americans still fails to buckle up.

That's insanity.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, Connecticut State Police issued 769 tickets for failure to wear seat belts. Stonington police conducted their own enforcement blitz over the holiday weekend and cited 353 drivers for the same violation.

Connecticut's seat-belt law requires all drivers and front-seat passengers, as well as rear-seat passengers aged 4 to 16, to wear safety belts. The fine for failure to do so is $37.

It is not an onerous amount, so the penalty isn't likely to force a nonbeliever to buckle up. But common sense should.

Research shows that correctly using seat belts reduces the number of serious traffic injuries by 50 percent and fatalities by as much as 70 percent. They protect drivers and passengers by holding them in place after impact, keeping them from banging off the steering wheel and dashboard or going through a windshield or window.

Occupants ejected from a vehicle are 25 times more likely to be killed or injured.

The recent arrests by state and Stonington police suggest some people think they are either invincible or know better, and that a seat belt won't help. Or maybe they are just too lazy to buckle up. Whatever the reason, they're making a mistake. Seat belts save lives.