(Lincoln, NE)- A rash of fatality crashes on Nebraska roads has the Nebraska State Patrol reminding motorists to wear their seat belts and avoid crash causing behaviors.

Beginning Monday, March 23, 2009 through Monday, March 30, 2009, six people were killed in five separate crashes on Nebraska roads. Of those killed, four were not wearing seat belts. Alcohol was believed to be involved in at least two of the crashes. Four of the six people killed died in single vehicle rollover crashes. The age of those killed ranged from 17- to-55. All but one of the fatalities was driving the vehicle in which they were killed.

“While we understand crashes will occur, there are things we as motorists can do to put the odds in our favor,” said Lieutenant Colonel Dave Sankey, Assistant Superintendent of the Nebraska State Patrol. “The first thing all of us should do when we get in a motor vehicle is buckle our seat belt. It’s proven this one step increases the likelihood of surviving a crash by up to 50%.”

The Nebraska State Patrol also reminds motorists to avoid crash causing behaviors such as speeding, following too closely, and driving while impaired.

A Bennington, Nebraska woman and a Council Bluffs, Iowa man were the most recent fatalities. 51-year-old Linda Therien and 55-year-old Joseph Cowan were killed when the vehicles they were driving collided nearly head-on just north of Omaha on Highway 36. The crash occurred around 7:00 p.m., Monday, March 30, 2009. Troopers investigating the crash say Therien was the driver of a westbound pickup that crossed the center line striking an eastbound minivan driven by Cowan. Both were alone in their vehicles at the time of the crash. Cowan was wearing a seatbelt, it was undetermined whether Therien was buckled-up.

As of March 31, 2009, 42 people have been killed in crashes on Nebraska roads, that number compares with 61 people killed during the same time frame in 2008.