Partners in Prevention - This summer, remember that seatbelts save lives

As the summer months rapidly approach and people spend more time on Montana’s roads and highways, it is important to remember the laws surrounding seatbelt use, and how they protect you and your loved ones.

Montana law states that the driver is responsible for every person in the vehicle and can be fined for every unrestrained passenger.

According to the Montana Department of Transportation, in 2020, when fatal crashes occurred, 8/10 of those involved were not buckled up. As a state, we can lower those numbers by wearing our seatbelts, and wearing them correctly.

Why wear a seatbelt?

Seatbelts help protect you by:

• Keeping you from being ejected.

• Preventing impact with the interior of the vehicle.

• Preventing impact with other occupants of the vehicle.

• Spreading the force of impact across a large area and the strongest parts of your body.

• Allowing your body to slow down gradually during a crash.

Seatbelts also help keep you in the vehicle’s safety cage during a crash. A lap and shoulder belt is the most effective tool to prevent injuries and death, but only if you are wearing it correctly. To ensure that you have the most secure and safe seatbelt possible, follow these guidelines:

• The shoulder belt should cross the center of your chest and fit snuggly against your body.

• Never place the seatbelt under your arm.

• Adjust the shoulder strap so it goes over the collarbone, not against the neck or face.

• The lap belt should go low across the hips — never across the stomach.

• Sit upright with your feet on the floor.

Child passenger safety:

Kids of different ages require different safety restraints. Montana law states: “If a child under 6 years of age and weighing less than 60 pounds is a passenger in a motor vehicle, that motor vehicle must be equipped with one child safety restraint for each child in the vehicle and each child must be properly restrained. The child safety restraint must be appropriate for the height and weight of the child as indicated by manufacturer standards.”

The following are guidelines, by age, for child passenger safety restraints:

• Birth to 2 years

Your child should ride in a rear-facing car seat starting with the trip home from the hospital. Never place a rear-facing car seat in front of an active airbag. Read your car seat labels and instruction manual for proper use and installation, including height, weight, and age limits. Refer to your vehicle owner’s manual for additional guidelines.

• 2-4 years

Keep your child in a rear-facing car seat for as long as possible. When your child outgrows the rear-facing car seat, switch to a forward-facing car seat installed in the back seat.

Read your car seat labels, car seat instruction manual, and vehicle owner’s manual for proper use and installation.

• 5-8 years

A child should remain in a forward-facing car seat until reaching the top height, weight, or age limit allowed by the car seat manufacturer. Once your child outgrows this car seat, use a booster seat in the back seat.

• 8-12

Your child should remain in a booster seat until old enough and big enough to fit in a lap and shoulder belt properly—typically between 8 and 12 years of age and about 4’9” tall.

Never let your child put the shoulder belt under the arm or behind the back. This eliminates all upper body protection and can cause severe injury in a crash. Children should continue to ride in the back seat until they are at least 13 years of age.

What you can do:

Hill County Buckle Up Montana covers a four-county area, providing information and services to the Blaine, Chouteau, Hill and Liberty counties. Our goal is to reduce motor vehicle crash injuries and fatalities due to non-use or misuse of occupant restraints in Hill County.

For more information regarding child safety seating, or to make sure your child safety seat is correctly installed, or to receive a child safety seat and inspection, please call Mary Owens, Buckle-Up Montana coordinator, at the Fitting Station to make an appointment: 406-265-6206, [email protected].

This service is available Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

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Havre Public Schools and the HELP Committee and Boys & Girls Club of the Hi-Line are committed to promoting safe and healthy lifestyles to become long-lived, responsible citizens. For more information on this or related topics, contact the HELP Committee at 406-265-6206.