RCMP finding children not properly buckled in on Saskatchewan roads

The Saskatchewan RCMP is reminding people to make sure their smallest passengers are safe when they hit the road.

It’s the law to ensure children are buckled up in a moving vehicle and riding in an appropriate car or booster seat. However, the Mounties have been seeing otherwise on Saskatchewan roads.

Since the start of 2023, the Saskatchewan RCMP’s Combined Traffic Services team has found 198 children under the age of seven not having been properly restrained with seatbelts or child restraints in a vehicle during a traffic stop.

Police also identified 49 children between the ages of seven and 15 not being properly restrained. All these situations resulted in seatbelt-related charges.

Breaking down the statistics more in a media release, the RCMP said of the 198 children under the age of seven who were not properly restrained, 142 were not in a car or booster seat at all, 46 were not properly restrained in their car seats, and 16 were in car seats not properly attached to the vehicle.

There were also children in front seats — which RCMP said can be particularly unsafe in the case of a sudden airbag deployment, which could injure a child — and various other seating issues, including children standing up in vehicles, sitting on the edge of seats or sitting in the lap of the driver.

The RCMP said one child was thrown forward while a vehicle was stopping for the traffic stop because they weren’t buckled in or restrained.

“Protect your young passengers,” the release from RCMP said.

According to police, children under 12 are safest in the back seat of a vehicle in proper restraints based on their age, weight and height. All child passengers should be buckled up.

Not doing so can result in a fine of $175 for the driver when a child under seven is not in an appropriate car or booster seat.