Seat-belt enforcement bill advances

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Lt. Pat Hawkins has seen people die in apparently minor accidents and others -- including his own daughter -- live through horrific crashes.

The difference, the veteran of the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department said Tuesday, often came down to the click of a seat belt.

After more than 90 minutes of often tearful testimony from the families and friends of accident victims, and from medical workers and a hospital chaplain, the House Transportation Committee voted 7-1 to approve a bill that would permit police officers to stop vehicles if the occupants are not buckled up.

Current law allows police to write a $10 ticket for not wearing a seat belt, but only if an officer notices the violation after making a traffic stop for another reason.

The bill would also require anyone for whom there is a seat belt to wear it. Current law only requires seat belts for those in the front seats.

Hawkins said a seat belt saved his daughter's life when she was in a small car involved in an accident with a tractor-trailer and a large utility truck. He responded to the accident, and recalled fearing the worst as he approached the car.

"I got up to the scene, and the most wonderful thing I heard was my daughter screaming," he said.

She was trapped in the car for about 45 minutes but survived with a broken ankle and foot and cuts to her face.

Past bills to expand the enforcement of Missouri's seat belt law have run into stiff opposition from rural lawmakers and the legislative Black Caucus. Although a Republican from a rural district cast the lone vote against the bill Tuesday, the Black Caucus now supports it.

Rep. Robin Wright-Jones, the Black Caucus interim chairwoman, said there are still concerns that stepped-up enforcement powers could worsen racial profiling. Caucus members decided that the possible benefits of getting more Missourians to wear seat belts won out, said Wright-Jones, D-St. Louis.

Rep. Brian Munzlinger, who cast the only "no" vote, said he makes sure his family members wear seat belts but believes that it should remain a choice. He said a poll he took of his constituents showed that two-thirds of them agree with him.

Munzlinger, R-Williamstown, said he thinks rural lawmakers tend to oppose primary seat belt bills because they believe the state should do more to educate people about the importance of wearing seat belts.

Among those urging lawmakers to support the bill were several people with ties to Ava High School in southwest Missouri.

The school has had 15 students die in the last 20 years -- and 14 of them were involved in car accidents and were not wearing a seat belt.

The exception was 17-year-old Jake Yates, who was wearing his seat belt when his car was hit head-on by another car that was speeding and passing on a two-lane road.

His death two months ago might have been Ava's only loss if the state had a stronger seat belt law, his parents, Cheri and Steve Bowden, testified.

"How many grandchildren are we missing?" Cheri Bowden said. "It changes history -- not just for our family, but for everyone."

Ava High School has since begun a community-wide effort to encourage seat belt use among its students.

About 58 percent of Missouri teenagers wear seat belts, said Rep. Neal St. Onge, R-Ellisville. Missouri Department of Transportation statistics show that 75 percent of all Missouri drivers buckle up.

According to several studies focusing on state laws and seat belt usage and traffic fatality rates, raising the fines for seat belt violations can make up for more lax enforcement.

Lilliard Richardson, an associate professor of public policy at the University of Missouri-Columbia and co-author of several such studies, said states with secondary enforcement instead of primary enforcement can boost seat belt usage by increasing the fines.

Richardson said it takes a hefty fine, though, to get the same bump as allowing police to stop drivers for seat belt violations. He estimated Missouri would need to boost its fines up to around $100 to get the same 10 percent increase in seat belt usage and 5 percent drop in fatalities.

St. Onge said he did not want to go that route because it could give other lawmakers a reason to vote against the bill. He said stepping up the enforcement without increasing the fines would save 90 lives per year and save the state $10 million in Medicaid costs.

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Seat belt bill is HB90.

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On the Net:

Legislature: http://www.moga.mo.gov