Wilmington Police Awarded Grant To Increase Seat Belt Use

WILMINGTON, MA — The Wilmington Police Department recently received a grant from the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security’s Office of Grants and Research (OGR) to increase the number of patrols and to remind drivers and passengers about the lifesaving benefits of wearing a seat belt.

“Wearing a seat belt is the number one thing you can do to avoid injury or death in the event of a crash,” said Chief Joseph Desmond of the Wilmington Police Department. “We respond to numerous crashes each year where there is extensive vehicle damage, but the occupants are uninjured solely because they were wearing their seat belts."

According to the police chief, the funds from the grant will allow his department to put more officers on the street to educate the public and to help end preventable tragedies.

Seat belts saved an estimated 61 lives in Massachusetts in 2018, data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows.

Massachusetts’ seat belt use rate is consistently lower than the national average, ranking 45th in the 2019 seat belt observational study.