NORTH DAKOTA ( KXNET ) — It’s been a little over one year since North Dakota passed its new seatbelt law.

The law made it a primary offense for adults as well as children for not buckling up. This means a police officer doesn’t need probable cause to pull someone over to enforce seat belt usage.

The Ward County Sheriff’s Department says every eight days someone is killed in a car crash from not wearing a seatbelt.

Sgt. Brian Kellebrew with the Ward County Sheriff’s Department says he and his coworkers have seen too many awful crashes in their time serving.

“Nobody ever thinks they’re gonna be in a crash but whenever you are you want to make sure that you are wearing your seatbelt, it not only protects you from being ejected from the vehicle, it protects the main portion of your body,” said Brian Kellebrew, a Patrol Sergeant.

Since the law took effect in August of last year, more tickets have been given to people for not wearing a seatbelt.

Before the law deputies with Ward County gave out around 90 citations. So far this year, that number has increased to over 200.

Deputies urge people who still don’t want to wear a seatbelt to think about their family and other passengers they could hurt by not being buckled in if a crash happens.

“It’s extremely important you don’t want any harm to come to your child that should be the most precious thing to you,” said Kellebrew.

If caught, a $20 fine will be coming at you for not wearing your seatbelt and it will cost you $25 if a child is without their seatbelt.

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