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Buckle up your kids Starting Monday, police in Oregon will be cracking down on motorists who don't buckle up their kids. The Oregon State Police is joining thousands of police departments Monday in Operation ABC Mobilization: America Buckles up Children. The campaign lasts through May 31. Officers will step up enforcement of adult safety belt laws because it's proven that most adults who don't buckle up themselves leave their kids unbuckled, too, according to Capt. Greg Willeford, director of the OSP patrol services division. In 1998, 61 children under the age of 18 died in traffic crashes in the state, and many others were injured, Willeford said in a statement. "Many of these deaths and injuries could have been prevented if the driver had just seen to it that the child was buckled up," he said. Eight of 10 people who died on Oregon highways last year between May 18 and May 25 were not wearing their seat belts, according to the OSP. The other two were hit by a car while standing in the road. In addition, 425 of the 538 people who died in Oregon traffic crashes last year were occupants in passenger vehicles, and about 40 percent of those deaths involved the improper or non-use of seat belts, according to the OSP. With the Memorial Day holiday approaching, state police are making efforts to increase the number of troopers on the road, using grant funds from the Oregon Department of Transportation to pay overtime costs. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA