Hough was driving without a seat belt when his cell phone dropped to the floor of his car. As he picked it up, his car swerved and crashed into a telephone pole. He got a dislocated hip and a ticket for reckless driving.

"I was too busy, too young and too important to die," the 36-year-old Columbia resident said. "Now I think differently."

Hough joins an increasing number of S.C. drivers who are buckling up, but the state ranks third in the nation in traffic fatalities. While state law requires that seat belts be worn, authorities have limited power to enforce it.

The rising percentage of South Carolina drivers and passengers who opt to buckle up follows a nationwide trend. South Carolina is among 40 states with an increasing number of seat belt users, according to a study released this week by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Seat belt use in the state jumped from 66.3 percent in 2002 to 72.8 percent this year, a 6.5 percent increase.

After more than a month of using crutches, Hough said wearing a seat belt is far less of an inconvenience than the potential consequences of not wearing one.

"I could have walked away from the crash," he said. Instead, Hough starts physical therapy today.Despite the increase in seat belt use, South Carolina ranked low in the number of belted drivers -- 36th out of 47 states -- and was below the national average of 79 percent of drivers who buckle up. Information was unavailable for Maine, Minnesota and Wyoming.

The state ranked third in traffic fatalities per 100 million miles driven in 2001, according to a separate study by the NHTSA.

Statewide, 1,063 people were killed in traffic in 2002. Of the 846 killed who could have been wearing seat belts -- the number excludes pedestrians and motorcyclists -- 525 were not buckled up, said Max Young, the director of the office of highway safety with the S.C. Department of Public Safety.

Though seat belts are required in South Carolina, the law is a secondary one. That means police cannot pull over a vehicle based solely on a seat belt violation, unless the unbelted person is under age 18. A ticket for an adult not wearing a seat belt is $25. The ticket goes up to $40 if a child is not properly restrained, Young said.

A bill to make the lack of a seat belt a primary offense made its way through the House last spring. It was sent out of a Senate transportation committee in May, however, and put on a "contested calendar," which means it probably won't come up for a vote unless senators have time to discuss it.

Sen. John Kuhn, R-Charleston and a member of the committee who opposes the bill, said if the measure did move through the Senate, "it would be the worst law to come through in a long time."

"It would eliminate probable cause," Kuhn said. "There is no way an officer from 100 yards back can see if someone is wearing a seat belt."

Sen. Glenn McConnell objects to the bill because, he said, it violates a person's liberty.

"In their property, drivers should not be pulled over for conduct that is not a danger to a third person," the Charleston Republican said.

Kevin Kelley, a Charleston resident who does not wear his seat belt, said it would be a waste of time for the senators to discuss the bill.

"It is a personal safety issue," Kelley said. "People can decide for themselves."

Those tasked with making the roads safer say otherwise.

"A law will absolutely save lives," Young said. "It gives law enforcement another tool to work with."

Young said the increase in belted drivers should be applauded because the statistics mean that 56 more lives were saved in South Carolina this year than last. Each percentage point increase equals eight lives saved, he said.

Each accident also costs real dollars.

Last year, traffic accidents amounted to $2 billion in economic losses, said Allison Wright, the executive director of the South Carolina Insurance News Service. Economic loss accounts for everything from damage to vehicles to hospital visits to increased insurance premiums.

For the past 10 years, police officers and the state Highway Patrol have been raising public awareness with the Buckle Up South Carolina campaign. The Thanksgiving holiday campaign began Monday and ends Nov. 30.

NATIONAL LEADERS

The five states with the highest percentage of seat belt users:

Washington 94.8 percent

Hawaii 91.8 percent

California 91.2 percent

Oregon 90.4 percent

Maryland 87.9 percent

*South Carolina 72.8 percent

Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

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