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IQALUIT
Many drivers and passengers may soon have to do something they've never done before in Iqaluit: wear a seat belt.

Although the existing territorial law requiring the use of seatbelts has rarely been enforced, chief municipal enforcement officer Kevin Sloboda is preparing a report examining whether the city should crack down on the issue, Mayor Madeleine Redfern said.

"He was looking at the statistics to the extent of the number of accidents that happen in our community, the number of people injured, and whether or not injuries were exacerbated as a result of people not wearing seatbelts," Redfern said.

Sloboda was unavailable for comment. His staff and the RCMP, who deferred comment to the city, would share responsibility for enforcing the law.

The reconsideration of the policy may have stemmed from a recent accident that highlighted the need for enforcement.

"Last month, a young woman broke her femur, her collarbone and her jaw as a result of being involved in a vehicle accident and not wearing her seatbelt," Redfern said. "This is now becoming an issue in our community."

Times have changed, she said, and Iqaluit is growing larger.

"Iqaluit has doubled in population in 10 years, and we grow at the rate of 1,000 new residents every three years," she said. "There are a significant number of vehicles that arrive on the sealift every year, and there are more and more vehicles on our roads. As a result, there are more accidents happening."

If Sloboda recommends a crackdown, and the city agrees, the public will get ample advance notice, as it did when the city decided to enforce the use of helmets for ATV riders.

"It's at the preliminary stage," Redfern said. "The council has directed its administration that, as we begin to enforce laws that have not been enforced in the past, we must take a proactive approach in doing public education and awareness about the safety aspects, the value, the number of people injured as a result of not wearing seatbelts, the fact that it is law and it is required, and what are the penalties for not wearing seatbelts."

And she expects this is not the only change Iqalummiut will have to make.

"There are a lot more laws that may have been in existence for a time that the city is now looking to enforce."

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