The Virginian-Pilot
©
RICHMOND
Seat belts already are mandatory in Virginia, but not wearing one could get you pulled over if a Senate bill becomes law.
The Senate Transportation Committee on Thursday approved, 8-4, a bill sponsored by Sen. Patricia Ticer, D-Alexandria, that would make the violation of the state's seat belt law a primary offense, meaning an officer could stop and ticket you solely for not buckling up.
The current law specifies that not wearing a seat belt is a secondary offense, and violators can only be cited if they were stopped for another suspected infraction.
The proposal, SB649, came weeks after the deadliest year on Virginia roads since 1981. Virginia State Police announced earlier this month that 1,012 people were killed in traffic wrecks in 2007.
"We've had a plethora of fatal teenage accidents in N orthern Virginia within the last year," Ticer said in presenting the bill, adding that in many of the cases, drivers and
passengers weren't belted in.
Ticer said about 20 percent of Virginians don't use seat belts, and cutting that figure "translates into a tremendous number of lives saved."
Virginia State Police Capt. Steve Chumley told the 12 senators on the committee that he has had to break news to families of a loved one killed in a car wreck, and often informs them that the person wasn't using a seat belt.
"Every single time, I realize that that person's life could have been saved if they were wearing a seat belt," Chumley said.
Forty-seven percent of all the people who died on Virginia roads in 2007 weren't using a seat belt, he said. In 2006, he said, the figure topped 60 percent. Vicki Harris, a lobbyist for State Farm Insurance, said that in states that have switched seat belt violations to a primary offense, studies have shown 10 to 15 percent more people buckle up.
One man spoke against the bill, arguing that people who choose not to wear a seat belt endanger their own lives, not the lives of others.
The measure now goes to the full Senate. Last year, a similar provision cleared the Senate, but didn't get out of committee in the House of Delegates, Chumley said.
Kate Wiltrout, (757) 446-2629, kate.wiltrout@pilotonline.com
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How can having your seltbelt
How can having your seltbelt ON get you a ticket!? I had my seatbelt on and got a ticket for not having a secondary seatbelt on!! I have the automatic shoulder seatbelts in my 1990 make car so I wear my seatbelt every time I drive, but today some jerk off cop gave me a ticket for not having a LAP BELT!!!! &%&#&^%*! These ridiculous laws are out of hand. What can we as the people do to abolish crappy laws?
Rose
You seem to have an issue with the police in general...you should know that by state code police do not have to wear a seatbelt if they can articulate why they dont need one at any given time. Try again...
Seatbelts
Looks like more BIG BROTHER to me.
For the uninformed....
....police, fire, EMS, and postal workers are BY LAW exempt from seat belt laws. Most agencies have policies that govern whether or not their officers must wear a seat belt but the seat belt law does exclude those persons listed above. As far as worrying about accidents caused by people scrambling to put their seat belt on when they see a cop- if they put it on before putting the car in drive it's a moot point. For the morons that are worried about the cops pulling someone over for a seat belt infraction and seeing something else in the car and making an arrest AGAIN- put your seat belt on and you won't have to worry about it. Common sense people, common sense....
You don't understand,
Our legislators are going to toughen seat belt laws to protect us from the fact that they won't outlaw cell phone use when driving. Just wish tougher seat belt laws would reduce traffic congestion.
equal rights
I always wear a seatbelt because I choose to be safe. However, I do not think there should be a law saying any adult has to wear a seatbelt as long as there are still legally motorcycles on the roads. I mean really, with all the safety tests and the shell of steel around people driving cars, lawmakers insist on forcing them to wear seatbelts while, at the same time, there are people driving around on basically a speeding bicycle with no protection beyond a helmet. I have no problem with people riding motorcycles but it is completely irrational to allow that and yet legally require those using much safer vehicles to wear a seatbelt on top of all the other protection. Let adults make their own decisions.
New proposed seat belt law
I think the new proposed law is a great idea, and I don't feel like "Big Brother" is intruding at all. Yes, I agree it's a bit tougher, but something has to be done and I don't see any other realistic solutions, just complaints on how the gov't will be "intruding" on our rights or worry about getting a ticket for riding around in the back of a pickup..Last time I checked, it is illegal to ride in the bed of a pickup.
Insurance fraud
Vicki Harris, a lobbyist for State Farm Insurance, said that in states that have switched seat belt violations to a primary offense, studies have shown 10 to 15 percent more people buckle up.
When the current seat belt law was passed the insurance industry basically said the same thing and stated if the law was passed rates would go down. However comma...
big government
I don't wear my seatbelt. I hate the thing. Maybe it is a little claustraphobia, I don't know. But why should anyone else care? I make my kids buckle their seatbelt EVERY time they get in the car.
The statistics being used about accidents are distorted. Would seatbelts have saved some of those lives? Probably. But there are many who were killed who would have died seatbelt or not. Also, there are cases where not wearing the seatbelt and getting ejected from the car saved a life. (granted it is a lower number) I saw a report just last week where a guy was ejected and totally unhurt. Had he stayed in the car, he would have surely died. The car smashed to pieces and then caught on fire. My brother owes his life to his seatbelt.
My point is: it's my life. Stay out of it, government!
Red light cameras were OK'ed the first time becuase they said they would decrease accidents at the intersections. Their reason for wanting them reinstated was because of lost ticket revenue. Reading between the lines says they didn't decrease the accidents. If they did, we would have heard that argument again. It's just another intrusion on our lives.
Money Money Money
Its all about revenue and illegal searches. If you think its not, why do 40 million children ride in school buses everyday without seatbelts?