The Dalles Police is conducting high visibility seatbelt enforcement today in conjunction with the Oregon Department of Transportation.  Police officials say the use of seatbelts and restraints greatly reduces the chance of serious injuries and deaths in traffic crashes.  In a statement, The Dalles Police says it will be out and about in force to remind the citizens of this community the importance of taking the extra second to secure themselves with a seatbelt.  According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration forty-nine percent of passenger vehicle occupants killed in traffic crashes in 2023 were unrestrained.  That’s even though the national compliance rate of vehicle drivers that regularly wear seatbelts is approximately 91 percent.  NHTSA has estimated that car seats reduce the risk of fatal injury by 71 percent for infants younger than 1 year old and by 54 percent for toddlers 1 to 4 years old in passenger cars.