Sometimes it’s worth restating the obvious. Seat belts save lives, period. Last weekend is a clear reminder that deadly accidents in Minnesota aren’t limited to the winter months.

Just because temperatures aren’t dipping below freezing, ice isn’t building on the roadways and blizzard conditions are no longer in season, doesn’t mean we can throw safety out the window.

According to an Associated Press report, the Minnesota Department of Safety says this past Memorial Day weekend was the deadliest on Minnesota roads since 1996, with a least a dozen people killed.

Last year, two people died, and in 1996, there were 13.

Authorities say failure to wear seat belts figured in at least two of the holiday weekend fatalities.

What’s more alarming is the fact that last weekend’s tragedies came during the “Click It or Ticket” campaign, the Minnesota-wide Department of Public Safety Safe & Sober program that has law enforcement agencies stepping up their patrols from May 18-31.

Wearing a seat belt and driving safe should be no brainers all-year long. It should be done for our safety and for the safety of our families, friends and other travelers.