By Andru McCracken

Forget skyrocketing fines for not wearing one, police in Valemount and McBride presented high school kids with the consequences of not wearing a seat belt.

The presentation included a very grisly video of accident scenes and a roll over demonstration, where dummies were without seatbelts in a rotating vehicle. It wasn’t difficult to imagine what would have happened to the dummies if they were made of flesh and bone.

Student Kieth Zamniuk watched the video and summed it up this way: “Seatbelt. Wear it and you won’t die.”

Zamniuk said that the demonstration sent a pretty clear message. Whether or not he’ll wear his seatbelt depends on other issues though, he said some of the belts in his parent’s car don’t work.

Brent Simmons figured the presentation was effective.

“It’s able to help kids understand what the reality of a car crash is,” he said. “I always wear my seat belt.”

Kasey Banks defended the graphic contents of the video.

“You’ll always have it in your mind,” he said.

Britney Stone confesses she hasn’t always worn her seatbelt.

“It made me think,” she said.

Will she wear it forevermore without exception? She was honest: “Not always, but possibly more.”

David Lerch said that he doesn’t buckle up unless he’s going on the highway. He said that he would wear his seat belt more often, but not likely for trips to town, despite crossing a major highway.

When Valemount high school kids fell silent during the presentation, Corporal Shane Parker took it as a positive sign.

“It’s hard to get teenagers quiet,” he said.