Today begins the next round of increased law enforcement in Iowa for the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau’s special Traffic Enforcement Program.

This Memorial Day holiday, law enforcement is stressing Iowans use seat belts while traveling. Even though it’s a state law to wear a seat belt, Iowa’s seat belt usage is 94-percent. According to statistics, the remaining six-percent account for about half of all traffic fatalities.

The Jefferson Police Department is shedding light on some seat belt myths with the help from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s 2015 data. A pickup truck is not safer if you’re not wearing a seat belt. Sixty-percent of truck occupants who were killed were not wearing seat belts. Another myth is sitting in different areas of a vehicle. About 47-percent of those in the front-seat passenger vehicle were killed and 57-percent were in the back seat and were not wearing a seat belt. One other myth is driving country roads are safer. In 2015 nationwide, there were 12,797 fatalities on rural roads compared to 8,262 on urban streets. Half of those killed on rural roads were unbuckled and 46-percent from urban crashes.

The Jefferson Police Department urges everyone to wear a seat belt while in a motor vehicle and stay safe on the roads during the Memorial Day holiday.