More than 430 drivers became 'heroes” of the special operation “Seat Belt” carried out by the traffic police during February 15-21. Tudor Capatana, specialist of the Traffic Police Division's PR Service, told Info-Prim Neo that the operation was aimed at sensitizing the drivers to the necessity of fastening the safety belt. He said that the seat belt is designed to secure the occupant of a vehicle against harmful movement that may result from a collision or a sudden stop. According to estimates, the safety belt used by the occupants of the front seats save thousands of lives. The seat belts are intended to reduce injuries by stopping the wearer from hitting hard interior elements of the vehicle, or other passengers are in the correct position for the airbag to deploy and prevent the passenger from being thrown from the vehicle. They also absorb energy by being designed to stretch during an impact, so that there is less speed differential between the passenger's body and their vehicle interior, and also to spread the loading of impact on the passengers body. As part of the operation, the traffic police identified 433 drivers traveling unbuckled. They were fined 300 lei and received penalty points. 264 drivers were fined 400 lei to 1 000 lei for speeding. The culprits who paid the fine within 72 hours paid only half of the sum. Twenty-eight persons were killed and 319 injured in the 216 accidents that happened in Moldova this year.