Officers honored for seat-belt enforcement

FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Nearly 140 Kentucky law enforcement officers have been recognized for their efforts to increase use of seat belts and child restraints in vehicles.

The 137 officers from 119 agencies were honored at the Governor’s Occupation Protection Awards ceremony recently in Lexington.

Awards were presented to officers with the most occupant protection citations in each agency and division.

There are six divisions, broken down by number of officers within the agency. There’s also a division for Kentucky State Police.

State transportation officials say there were 638 highway fatalities in Kentucky last year, with 483 killed in motor vehicles. Of those 483 fatalities, 278 were not wearing seat belts.

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