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You never know what will happen when you hop in your car and go for a drive.

Whether you’re driving across town to the grocery store, going shopping in the Twin Cities or venturing out on a cross country trip, there’s a risk every single time you get into a vehicle.

As confident as you may be in your own driving, you cannot predict what may happen around you — whether that’s other drivers, deer and the list goes on and on.

For that reason and others, law enforcement officers across the state over the next few weeks are promoting all vehicle occupants to buckle their seat belts.

The Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Office of Traffic Safety is coordinating a Click It or Ticket enforcement campaign from May 19 through June 1. During that time, officers, deputies and troopers will spend extra time trying to prevent unsafe seat belt and car seat decisions from risking lives. The effort is thanks to funding from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

According to the Department of Public Safety, nearly 95 percent of Minnesotans wear their seat belts, but unbelted riders and drivers make up more than 20 percent of all traffic fatalities.

The state agency states out of the 476 traffic fatalities in 2024, 106 were not wearing a seat belt.

From 2019 to 2024, only 68 percent of children ages 0 to 9 who were involved in a car crash were known to be properly secured. Of the children who were properly secured, 87 percent were not injured and 12.6 percent sustained only minor injuries, the department states.

We encourage all who drive or ride in vehicles to remember these statistics next time you get out on the road. It truly could be the difference between life and death — or serious injury.

Remember, seat belts should never be tucked under the arm or behind the back and should be tight and across the hips or thighs. Children must be in a booster seat until they are 9 or have outgrown the booster seat and pass a five-step test. Children under 13 must also sit in the back seat if possible.

If you haven’t been wearing your seat belt, we hope you will use these next few weeks as an opportunity to get back into the swing of doing so.

It can save your life.