Primary seat belt OK’d

Safety versus personal choice is again the common theme for supporters and opponents of a bill that would require all riders in a passenger vehicle to wear a seat belt, and extends the seat belt law to drivers and passengers of commuter vans, type III school buses and type III Head Start buses.

Drivers would be fined $25 for each person under age 15 violating the seat belt use requirement. However, the $75 surcharge statutorily put on criminal and traffic offenders would be reduced to $25.

Cheri Marti, director of the Department of Public Safety’s Office of Traffic Safety, said states with a primary seat belt law have seen a citation increase, thereby offsetting some costs.

Sponsored by Rep. Kim Norton (DFL-Rochester), HF108 would also allow primary enforcement of the seat belt law, meaning a motorist can be stopped for the violation. Currently, a motorist must be stopped for another offense to be issued a no seat belt citation. People ages 11 and up can now ride in a back seat unbuckled.

Approved 10-9 by the House Transportation Finance and Policy Division March 31, and 9-6 by the House Public Safety Policy and Oversight Committee April 2, it awaits action by the House Finance Committee. A companion, SF42, sponsored by Sen. Steve Murphy (DFL-Red Wing), has been approved by two Senate committees and two divisions. It awaits action by the Senate Finance Committee.

Division testimony was limited to financial implications of the bill, although a couple of supporters did mention safety aspects.

“This will be fiscally responsible and it will save lives,” said St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington. There are about 200 unbelted deaths on state roads each year, with another 430 people suffering serious, life-altering injuries.

In addition to the state receiving $3.4 million in federal funding for transportation safety programs, supporters said passing the bill would save $11 million per year in hospital-related costs beginning next year.

Norton said a study using 2004-05 crash data showed that unbelted victims have hospital costs that are 60 percent greater than belted victims. “Taxpayers pay for those. Government resources, including Medicaid, were charged $42 million a year for unbelted hospital charges in the years covered by that study.” She said the numbers do not include costs of outpatient treatment, specialists, follow-up care, rehabilitation or assisted-living care.