(ABC 6 News) – As of September 29th, there has been 78 fatal crashes involving people not wearing their seatbelts.

That number, getting close to surpassing last year’s total of 83 unbelted fatalities.

“We’ve kind of been on an upward trend of fatals over the last several years, and that’s why it’s important that we do these extra campaigns to make sure we continue to educate people, the dangers of not wearing your seatbelt, safe speeds, distracted driving, and driving while you’re impaired,” Minnesota State Patrol Sgt. Troy Christianson said.

Minnesota law requires all drivers and passengers to wear seatbelts at all times.

Everyone has a part to play to ensure their own safety, especially younger drivers.

“The drivers that are killed at a higher rate are from 16- to 25-year-olds,” Sgt. Christianson said.

Basic safety preventative measures are something Todd Ingalls makes sure his student drivers are aware of.

“We talked a lot about that in class here, the importance of seatbelts we show them videos that people that didn’t wear them it didn’t work out so well, so by the time they come to us and they go driving, really the seatbelt isn’t really an issue.”

Ingalls has been a driving instructor for 17 years and makes sure his drivers are always prepared before hitting the road.

During one of his lessons, a student was behind the wheel and there were no distractions.

“I personally haven’t had a problem with keeping my phone away, I usually just throw it in the backseat when I’m driving, but yeah just keeping your phone away, even just turning the music down helps too, whatever can help you focus,” Driver’s Ed student Cleary O’Neil said.