Wednesday, April 13, 2011 The Review.ca12

Ontario seatbelt laws turn 35HAWKESBURY – It’s been 35 years since seatbelt laws came into effect in Ontario, in 976, and the On-tario Provincial Police (OPP) are as com-mitted as ever to seat-belt compliance with the launch of the 20 spring seatbelt cam-paign.

The province-wide campaign will

run from Wednesday, April 3 to Saturday, April 23. During that time, the OPP will be stepping up enforce-ment to ensure that motorists and passen-gers buckle up.

Using a seatbelt is the single most effec-tive way to reduce the chance of injury or death in a motor vehi-cle collision. Yet trag-

ically, countless fa-talities and injuries relating to seatbelt use have continued to oc-cur needlessly each year over the past 35 years.

Last year on OPP patrolled roadways, 89 people lost their lives in collisions in which lack of seatbelt use was a causal factor and 4,200 people were

injured for the same reason.

So far this year, sev-en people have died in collisions in which lack of seatbelt use was a causal factor and 855 have been serious-ly injured. Compared to this same time last year, 3 died and 93 were injured.

The OPP will be fo-cusing their efforts on child restraints during this campaign to raise awareness about the need to properly re-strain children in a ve-hicle. A properly-used child seat reduces a child’s risk of injury in a crash by as much as 75 per cent, yet many child car seats are in-

correctly used or im-properly installed.

When used cor-rectly, a booster seat provides 60 per cent more protection than a seatbelt alone. In a collision, children us-ing seatbelts instead of booster seats are three and a half times more likely to suffer significant injury, and four times more like-ly to suffer head inju-ry. OPP detachments regularly run child car-seat safety clinics and the OPP are en-couraging everyone to contact their local OPP Detachment or their local police serv-ice for more informa-tion.

Tips on how to save money when you hit the road this summer

Summertime is travel time. Even with gasoline prices at an all-time high, Canadi-ans can’t resist the lure of sunny skies and the open road.

Before hitting the road this summer, you can take several sim-ple precautions to keep your family safe and save money at the pump.

Extreme heat and long drives can be tough on cars. Cracked hoses, leaky radiators, underinflated tires and dirty filters can signif-icantly lower your fuel efficiency, or worse, lead to a total breakdown.

Oil is the lifeblood of your car. It keeps hardworking engine parts running clean, smooth and cool. Most owner’s manuals sug-gest that you change your oil and oil fil-ter every 7,500 miles (2,070 kilometers). Oil change specialists sug-gest every 3,000 miles

(4,828 kilometers) or three months.

The fact is, most of us do a lot of heavy driving during the summer when an en-gine is more likely to overheat. So at least check your oil be-fore you head out on that road trip with the family.

Your brakes are the single most important safety feature on your car. Don’t put yourself or your family at risk this summer by riding around on worn down or faulty brakes.

Wintertime is no-torious for dead bat-teries and early morn-ing jumpstarts. But the truth is that hot weather is even tough-er on your battery.

Summer heat can speed up the chem-ical reaction inside a battery, causing the battery to be over-charged.

The best way to keep your battery run-ning smoothly is to keep it clean. Regular-ly detach the battery cables and wipe off the terminals.

Is your car trying to tell you something...need a tune up?Does your home look like it could use a face lift? Call in the specialists.

Wheel into Spring!