Regional Industry & News

FARGO — A simple action can save a life.

That's what a North Dakota Highway Patrol captain says after four people were killed and five were seriously injured in crashes in the last two weeks.

Not one of the people was wearing their seat belts.

North Dakota Highway Patrol Capt. Bryan Niewind says North Dakota can cut its fatal crash count in half if every driver puts on their seat belt.

He says the one simple click can help save a family from heartbreak, and it's the law.

"If you're wearing your seat belt, you're going to walk away from that crash, but people are not wearing their seat belts, and they die," said Niewind.

It's as simple and tragic as that.

Niewind says the summer months in North Dakota always see more dangerous driving than any other time of year.

Higher speeds, more distractions and a rising number of fatal crashes where drivers were not wearing their seat belts are taking focus.

"The seat belt is that first line of defense, those airbags are that second line of defense, and the third line of defense is all that crush zone, all that energy that's absorbed by your car when you're involved in a crash. Well, none of those other two things work if you don't have that seat belt on," Niewind said.

On July 24, a 23-year-old McHenry, North Dakota, man and a 54-year-old Edgeley, North Dakota, man were killed in a head-on crash in Stutsman County. A passenger was seriously injured and taken to the hospital. Authorities say neither driver was wearing a seat belt.

Then a 46-year-old Lisbon, North Dakota, man was killed Saturday night , Aug. 1, after his pickup crashed into a bridge railing in the Sheyenne River Valley. The North Dakota Highway Patrol says he was not wearing a seat belt.

And on Aug. 2, A 19-year-old Pierre, South Dakota, man died in a rollover crash near Rhame, North Dakota. The North Dakota Highway Patrol says the driver was not wearing a seat belt when his vehicle left the road and rolled into a ditch.

"You have family, you have coworkers, you have friends, right? Even just wearing that seat belt, you're going to save them from the trauma of you potentially having serious injuries and then take care of you for the rest of your life, or you're no longer walking on this earth," Niewind said.

Niewind says seat belts aren't an end-all, be-all life-saving tool, but they give everyone a much higher chance of survival in a crash.

"It's a completely preventable death," Niewind said.

Niewind says more than just seat belts are an issue this summer.

Half of the crashes this year have been caused by lane departures or people drifting out of their lanes, and he says that usually stems from distracted or impaired drivers.