State Police crack down on seat belts

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) - Indiana State Police will be watching for motorists who don't wear their seat belts during special patrols over the next four weeks.

The crackdown will begin April 20. Twenty-four other agencies throughout the state will participate in the crackdown, which runs through May 17.

The project aims to increase seat belt use by motorists in rural counties with the highest percentage of unrestrained fatalities.

The Indiana Criminal Justice Institute says 64 percent of the state's total traffic fatalities occurred on rural roadways during 2011.

Since 2007, Indiana's primary seat belt law has required that all passenger motor vehicle occupants, including those in pickup trucks, buckle up regardless of where they're seated.