NEW REASONS TO BUCKLE UP

If a tougher seat belt law like the one to take effect next month had existed 10 years ago, Kathy Wolz's sister might still be alive.

In 1987, Wolz's 17-year-old only sister, Mary Ellen Anderson, of Cape Girardeau was killed in a traffic accident after being thrown from a pickup truck. Anderson was not wearing her seat belt, and she was not legally obligated to do so.

"I still cry when I drive past the spot where it happened," Wolz said. "If she had been wearing a seat belt, it never could have happened."

Wolz said deaths like her sister's can be avoided if people wear seat belts, even in a pickup truck.

On July 1, Gov. Mel Carnahan signed a new law that, among other things, strengthens seat belt requirements for pickups.

Under current law, pickup truck drivers do not have to wear seat belts. Under the new law, which takes effect Aug. 28, anyone under 18 or anyone driving or riding in the front seat of a pickup that weighs less than 12,000 pounds must wear a seat belt. People who do agricultural work with their pickups are exempt.

Wolz thinks the strengthened law is a good step and may help people think about buckling up.

"I used to stop kids in pickups and scream at them," Wolz said. "I don't think they realize how dangerous not wearing a seat belt is. It just takes hitting your head the wrong way to kill you. It's something people don't think about."

The law will also prohibit those under 18 from riding in the beds of pickups on highways or within city limits. But there are several exemptions, including employees engaged in necessary duties, people transporting unprocessed agricultural products, those riding in the open bed during a parade, or those secured somehow.

But the new law, sponsored by Sen. Harold Caskey, D-Butler, and Rep. Deleta Williams, D-Warrensburg, isn't just aimed at pickups.

The law also requires children ages 4 to 16 to wear seat belts, whether they are sitting in the front or the back seat of a vehicle. But if there are more children than seat belts in the car, the driver cannot be ticketed. Under current law, children are only required to wear seat belts if they are in the front seat.

Sgt. J.R. "Buddy" Davis, who heads the traffic division of the Cape Girardeau Police Department, is glad to see the tougher seat belt law. But he said it could have been stronger. Under the new law, police still cannot pull people over just for seat belt violations. And most of the fines for these infractions cannot be more than $10.

But Davis said the law is a step in the right direction. Forbidding children from riding in the back of pickups is an especially good provision, he said.

"I worked accidents where kids fell out of the back of trucks and sustained some pretty serious injury," Davis said. "I was really in favor of that legislation."

He said the Cape Girardeau Police Department will strictly enforce the new law once it takes effect.

"The only way to get compliance is through strict enforcement, like we always have been on seat belt enforcement," Davis said. "Some people may not agree with the seat belt law, but wearing your seat belt -- even in a minor accident -- can keep you from getting hurt pretty bad."

Wolz thinks the new law will have positive, life-saving impacts.

"I don't know that a law like this one would have saved my sister but it might have," Wolz said. "But I do know that it will save somebody's life. Even if it hadn't saved her, it will save somebody."