Illinois State Police District 16 officer will be conducting occupant restraint enforcement patrols in Winnebago County throughout this month.

According to a press release, the "OREP" patrols allow the Illinois State Police to target a specific area with saturation patrols that focus on traffic violations and related compliance with safety belt and child safety seat laws. Safety belt enforcement zones will also be set up to properly ensure every driver is buckled up, even those in the back seat.

Safety belts are estimated to save over 12,000 lives and over half of the people killed in traffic accidents are not properly using seat belts.

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