Law enforcement officers in Austin and Albert Lea along with Mower and Freeborn counties will step up seat belt enforcement today.

The effort, part of a statewide Click It or Ticket campaign, aims to educate motorists that seat belts save lives. The enforcement runs through Oct. 25.

According to a news release, half of the people killed in car crashes in Minnesota during the first six months of 2015 were not wearing a seat belt.

“The first line of a defense in a crash is your seat belt,” said Albert Lea Police Department Lt. Jeff Strom. “Those not buckled up during a crash can be tossed around like a ping pong ball, thrown from the vehicle into oncoming traffic or even risk their own car rolling over on them. Those violent deaths are preventable with one simple click.”

The news release states more Minnesotans than ever are getting the message that seat belts save lives.

The state’s 2015 seat belt survey shows 94 percent compliance when it comes to wearing a seat belt, compared with 87 percent nationally, according to the 2013 National Occupant Protection Use Survey.

The release stated 54 percent of men killed in the first six months of 2015 were not belted, compared with 40 percent of women, according to preliminary state figures.

Of the 183 men killed in car crashes in 2014, 89 were not buckled. Of the 95 women who died in crashes in the same year, 33 were not belted.

Minnesota law requires the driver and passengers and all seating positions to be buckled up or seated in a correct child restraint.

The Click It or Ticket seat belt enforcement is part of the state’s Toward Zero Deaths program.