VENANGO CO., Pa. — To increase safety on Pennsylvania’s roadways during the busy holiday season, law enforcement agencies in Erie, Mercer, Venango, and Warren counties will participate in holiday seat-belt enforcement.

They will join the Pennsylvania State Police and nearly 250 local departments statewide to participate in increased seat-belt enforcement from November 20 through December 3.

Northwest Pennsylvania police agencies participating in the initiative include:

• Erie County – City of Erie Police Department and Millcreek Township Police Department;
• Mercer County – Hermitage Police Department.
• Venango County – Franklin Police Department, Oil City Police Department, and Sugarcreek Police Department; and
• Warren County – Conewango Township Police.

The enforcement is coordinated through PennDOT’s Buckle Up PA program and involves conducting seat-belt enforcement on the roadway which data shows have low seat-belt use and high unbelted-crash rates.

In 2016, people not wearing a seat belt accounted for only 6.9 percent of all those involved in a crash in Pennsylvania, but 52.2 percent of the fatalities from all crashes.

The combination of lap/shoulder seat belts, when used, reduces the risk of fatal injuries to front seat passenger car occupants by 45 percent, and light truck occupants by 60 percent.

For more information on seat belt safety, visit www.penndot.gov/safety. Click on the traffic safety and driver topics tab.

Below is a chart of the total number of people involved in crashes in Pennsylvania in 2016 based on seat belt usage.