Recently, traffic crashes have claimed more than a dozen lives, most of the victims were young people. While the crashes occurred in just a few Minnesota communities, all cities and counties across our state have witnessed similar tragedies in the past several years. No community has been immune.

Understandably, the public and the media scrutinize the actions of the drivers and passengers in these crashes. In the cases involving young drivers, many see parents as the responsible parties.

All of us in the law enforcement community must also evaluate our role in the prevention of these tragic events. Specifi- cally, we need to redouble our efforts to enforce the primary seat belt, graduated driver’s license and DWI laws.

Individuals choosing not to wear seat belts are breaking the law and they represent nearly 50 percent of those killed every year on our roads.

It’s useful to compare crashes to “traditional” crime. Consider these numbers:

o In 2008, there were 109 murders in Minnesota— and 455 people killed in crashes.

o There were more than 7,500 aggravated assaults—and nearly 34,000 people injured in crashes in 2008.

o There were 209,000 arrests in 2008— and more than 192,000 people were involved in nearly 142,000 reported crashes.

We cannot always prevent murder and other crimes, but we can prevent most traffic crashes that kill more Minnesotans than any other crime.

Law enforcement was instrumental in making the Primary Seat Belt law a reality and now it is our responsibility to use it to save lives. This can be accomplished with a zero-tolerance approach to seat belt enforcement and a commitment to issuing citations when violations are discovered.

Additionally important for new teen drivers are the Graduated Driver’s License (GDL) restrictions. While parents have a role to ensure their children adhere to GDL, officers must enforce the laws to make sure teens are complying with the provisions.

Officers should check the license issuance date during all traffic stops involving provisional license holders as GDL restricts nighttime driving and limits the number of passengers.

Traffic deaths continue to drop in Minnesota and deaths of young motorists have been dramatically reduced because enforcements works.

I ask all Minnesota law enforcement agencies to increase their traffic enforcement efforts and reverse the deadly momentum we’ve witnessed in the last several days. We can save lives and prevent these needless deaths.