Demo taking belt law for another spin
"I just think that if there is one thing we can do to make a difference, using safety belts is the single most effective means of reducing injuries in motor vehicle crashes," said Hale, a Democrat.
Utah law says that drivers age 19 and older can be pulled over and ticketed for not wearing a seat belt, but only if they committed another violation first. A primary seat-belt law allows officers to ticket drivers just for not buckling up.
Utah has a primary seat-belt law for drivers under age 19.
While safety advocates and law enforcement agencies support the use of safety belts, most Utah lawmakers have failed to support Hale's efforts to pass a primary seat-belt bill the past three years. The main rub, said Sen. Scott Jenkins, R-Plain City, is that mandating seat belts takes away personal choice.
"Why do we need government to tell us one more thing?" asked Jenkins. "We're all big boys and girls and ought to live life on our own."
Jenkins says a recent study by the U.S. Department of Transportation bolsters his point. The study said that nearly 87 percent of drivers in Utah buckle up. Nationally, 82 percent of drivers buckle up, according to the study.
But Hale says the state can do better.
In general, safety belt use increases when a state enacts a primary seat-belt law, she said. And safety belt use can prevent fatal crashes. Motorists are 31 times more likely to die in a crash if they're unbelted, according to Rolayne Fairclough, spokeswoman for AAA of Utah.
"I just don't see the logic behind not doing this when this simple law could save so many lives," she said.
In 2004, 296 people were killed in fatal crashes on Utah roads, according to the Highway Safety Office of the Department of Public Safety. In a sampling of those fatalities, about 53 percent were unbelted. The number increases when looking at rural counties; about 61 percent of people killed in rural areas were unbelted.
In Utah's six most populated counties, 41 percent of people killed were not wearing a seat belt, according to Highway Safety statistics.
Trooper Jeff Nigbur of the Utah Highway Patrol said his agency would like to see a primary seat-belt law but can work effectively with Utah's current law. "It would make it easier for us to make an initial stop as law enforcement rather than look for something else," he said.
Nigbur declined to comment specifically about Hale's bill. In general, he said, seat belts save lives.
"In my six years I've been on the Highway Patrol," he said, "I've seen that people who wear seat belts with a rollover, they will survive. Those who do not wear a seat belt have been ejected. They'll either hit the ground hard and that kills them or they'll be partially ejected and the vehicle rolls over them. In my experience, those who wear seat belts survive."
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