SEAT BELTS ARE WELL USED IN THIS AREA

While Cape Girardeau County led the region in the number of vehicle accidents in 1995, it also led in seat-belt usage by people who were involved in accidents.

More than 80 percent of people involved in accidents in Cape Girardeau County in 1995 -- statistics aren't yet available for last year -- were using their seat belts when the crashes occurred. Butler County had the second-best usage figure in the region at nearly 75 percent.

Understandably, more accidents occur in Cape Girardeau County than in any other Southeast Missouri county because, with 61,000 people, it is more heavily populated. Almost 70 percent of the 3,158 accidents that occurred in the county that year happened in Cape Girardeau, the heaviest-populated city in the region.

What is good to know is that so many people who were involved in those accidents were wearing seat belts. That is particularly impressive when considering that almost 70 percent of the accidents were inside Cape Girardeau, and people tend not to buckle up as often on short, in-town trips as they do on the highway.

The city in recent years has conducted various campaigns to encourage motorists to wear seat belts, and they apparently have had an impact. A state law requiring seat-belt usage in Missouri also has been responsible for more people buckling up. Seat belts save lives, and more people are beginning to realize it.