BUCKLE UP!

The Ohio High­way Patrol is remind­ing dri­vers to buckle up.

The warn­ing comes after records indi­cate that six of the 12 peo­ple killed this year on Van Wert and Pauld­ing county roads who were not wear­ing seat belts.

The National High­way Traf­fic Safety Admin­is­tra­tion esti­mates that 340 lives were saved in Ohio and 11,949 were saved nation­wide in 2011 as a direct result of motorists buck­ling up.

Recent safety belt sur­veys con­ducted in the area show vol­un­tary com­pli­ance usage rates for dri­vers are below 90 per­cent and 85 per­cent or less for pas­sen­ger.

The Ohio High­way Patrol is ask­ing dri­vers and pas­sen­gers to take their safety into their own hands by buck­ling up for every trip no mat­ter how short it might be.

Offi­cers say they will be out strictly enforc­ing the safety belt law with a zero tol­er­ance for those that fail to wear them.