RUTLAND, Vt. -
The number of people who have been killed on Vermont highways is almost double what it was last year.
With the holidays around the corner, more people are on the roads, and more people are drinking.
Police and Emergency Room Doctors want to remind you to slow down and buckle up.
"Flesh and bone doesn't stand up the way sheet metal does," William Mapes from the Regional Ambulance Service said.
Police say 85 percent of Vermonters are buckling up every time they get in the car, but at a press conference in Rutland Friday, they made a powerful plea to the other 15 percent. Police say the biggest excuse they hear is that the seat belt is uncomfortable.
"I can guarantee you the back of my ambulance after you're critically injured is much more uncomfortable, I can guarantee you the Emergency Department is much more uncomfortable, I can guarantee you the ICU and the rehab afterwards is much more uncomfortable, I'm tired of your excuses, buckle up," Mapes said.
And for one man, this message rang all too true. "They felt since they were in the backseat, they didn't need to put their seat belts on," Ed Ogorzalek said, Chief Financial Officer of the Rutland Regional Medical Center.
After a tire blow out, "the vehicle flipped over several times," Ogorzalek said.
And his sister in law was killed on impact.
At this time last year, 45 people had been killed on Vermont roadways, already this year, that number is at 70, and out of those people 40 of them were not wearing their seat belt.
"How many of those 40 people if they were restrained, if they were belted would be around this holiday season to celebrate it with their families?" Ted Minall said of the Chief Highway Program.
Police say the seat belt is the most effective piece of safety equipment you have.
"I've never once in 30 years, unbuckled a dead person," Mapes said.
Police have improved officer training and reporting procedures to better capture information found at crash scenes. They've also received grants that will allow them to have more officers on the roads this holiday season.
Police also encourage parents to be good role models for their children, start the habit early and buckle up!
