Improved
Safety Belt Law Would Save about 90 Lives A Year In Missouri,
Says
National Highway Official
JEFFERSON CITY - Improving Missouri's safety belt law would save
about 90 lives and prevent more than 1,000 serious injuries each
year, the head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
told state legislators today in Jefferson City.
NHTSA
Administrator Dr. Jeffrey W. Runge testified before the Senate
Transportation Committee in support of primary safety belt legislation.
Primary enforcement would allow officers to pull over motorists
solely for not wearing a safety belt. Current state law
allows only secondary enforcement, meaning motorists can be ticketed
only if the driver was first pulled over for another offense.
"Our
data clearly show that upgrading Missouri's safety belt law to
primary enforcement is the most effective way for Missouri to
reduce traffic deaths, injuries, and their costs -- more than
vehicle improvements -- more than road and intersection improvements
-- more than any other piece of legislation you might consider,"
Runge said.
Only
about 76 percent of Missourians buckle up, he said. The
national average is 80 percent. "More than a quarter of
your state's population - about 1.4 million people - are still
not buckling up," Runge said. Missouri's neighboring states
with primary safety belt laws, Iowa and Illinois, have use rates
of 86 percent and 83 percent respectively.
In
2003, 994 people died while riding in cars and trucks in Missouri.
"Three hundred of those who died were between 14 and 24
years of age," he said. "Seventy percent of these young
occupants were not wearing safety belts. If these young
people had been belted, about 100 would be with their families
today.
"You
have the power to turn 'if only he'd worn his safety belt' into
'thank God he was wearing his safety belt,'" Runge said.
"Our
studies and our experience make it clear that young people do
not respond to isolated educational messages about belt use, but
they do change their habits with the threat of a ticket
and fine," he said.
The
problem is particularly pronounced in pickup trucks. In
2003, 82 percent of the 209 people who died in pickups in the
state were unbelted. The proportion unbelted is even higher among
14 to 24 year-olds, with 84 percent not wearing their belts.
Under
a proposed highway authorization bill, Runge added that Missouri
could also earn $17 million in federal incentive money by enacting
this legislation.
Before
becoming NHTSA administrator, Dr. Runge spent 20 years practicing
emergency medicine. "This law is about our core value of
human life. In Missouri, it's about 90 human lives every year,"
he said.
The
legislation is Senate Bill 256.
Full
text of Dr. Runge's speech (25
kbs, 6 pages)
The documents are provided in Acrobat Reader format. Free Acrobat Reader download 
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