A life-saving practice

Johnson City (Tenn.) Press: Buckling up saves lives. Tennessee Department of Safety Commissioner Bill Gibbons believes that’s one of the reasons the number of fatalities from car crashes in Northeast Tennessee is down 16 percent this year from the same period in 2012.

Gibbons told Press staff writer Becky Campbell that he credits that drop to more drivers using their seat belts and law enforcement officers ticketing drivers and their passengers who don’t buckle up.

We sometimes hear from ticketed drivers who are not happy with law enforcement’s crackdown on unbuckled motorists. They argue that wearing a seat belt should be a decision left up to adult drivers and their adult passengers.

Officials with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration say about 40 million people do not regularly put on seat belts when they are on the road.

It’s important that all drivers and their passengers buckle up.