Police across Victoria's eastern region have been left baffled after an operation targeting seatbelt offences saw 15 motorists failing to buckle up.
Highway Patrol officers from Shepparton through to Latrobe took to the roads on Thursday (27 February) as part of Operation Buckle Up to ensure drivers and passengers were putting their safety first.
Eastern Region Road Policing Inspector Stephen Cooper said it was the simplest safety measure people could take before driving off.
"The number may not seem high, but that's 15 people who have actively chosen to put their lives at risk," Insp Cooper said.
"That's almost double the amount of people who have sadly lost their lives already this year as a result of not buckling up.
"If you're unfortunate enough to be involved in a collision, it may just be that seatbelt that saves your life."
Insp Cooper said police were often given a range of excuses from people who'd failed to click their own - or their children's - seatbelt on.
"We find that older generations of people who may have grown up without seatbelts being compulsory still think they don't need it," he said.
"There are others who feel they don't need it because they're only driving down the road.
"The sad reality is that the minute you get into your vehicle, you are susceptible to road trauma, no matter how long or short your journey."
While the operation primarily focused on seatbelt non-compliance, police across the region detected a total of 154 traffic offences.
They included:
- 58 x speeding offences
- 15 x mobile phone offences
- 9 x unregistered vehicles
- 4 x drug drivers
- 1 x drink driver
- 6 x unlicensed, disqualified or suspended drivers
One vehicle was also impounded in relation to driving while disqualified.
"We shouldn't be seeing a trend in seatbelt-related offences," Insp Cooper said.
"We'll keep driving the message until people start buckling up."
Operation Buckle Up ran from 12am to 11.59pm on Thursday 27 February.
