Potential for highway money prompts look at Georgia law

September 22, 2005

Georgia could pick up an extra $20 million or so in federal highway grants if the state enacts a law that adults in pickup trucks have to wear a seat belt.

Past legislation in this regard hasn’t gone very far, but lawmakers aren’t giving up the drive.

What the difference is, when it comes to safety, between a Corolla and a Chevy king cab is beyond us, but there you are. Apparently most other state officials feel the same way. Georgia is one of only two states in the United States (Indiana is the other) that doesn’t require seat belt usage in pickups by adult drivers or passengers.

You see a lot about seat belts on this page, with views ranging from people who believe it’s a violation of their personal rights to have a law requiring usage, to those who agree with us buckling up is a simple way to save a life.

Thankfully, fastening one’s seat belt, and securing children in our cars is becoming a common practice, although it took years for our own legislature to see the wisdom of a primary seat belt law, if for no other reason than to close a long-time loophole. Until that recent legislation, in South Carolina it was the law to wear a seat belt. But officers could not stop a motorist for not buckling up unless the driver was cited for another infraction. In effect, we had a law that could not be enforced on its own.

There’s plenty of time for discussion in Georgia; the grant program goes on until 2009.

The real time factor here is not for funding but for the fundamentals: Seat belts save lives.

The American Automobile Association estimates 22 lives could be saved each year if seat belts were required in trucks if a driver who didn’t previously buckle up did so as a result of the law.

And while we’re on a drive to get pickup drivers to buckle up, we’d like to add that we wish people and animals weren’t treated like cargo and carried in truck beds.

A sudden stop can find your passenger on the road, either impacting on a hard surface or even injured by another vehicle.

Pickup drivers, according to the AAA and as reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, are less likely to use a seat belt than drivers of passenger vehicles, 69 percent versus 81 percent. And, the report continues, occupants who aren’t belted are more often victims of a crash than those buckled up.

Seat belts won’t save lives in every instance; those who disagree with a law regarding usage will always cite that case where "he couldn’t get out because his seat belt wouldn’t release." But we’ve been unable to find a specific incident in which that happened. Perhaps it’s just another of those urban legends we’ve all learned to accept as fact.

The fact is a driver or a passenger is more likely to survive a vehicle crash if wearing the proper restraint. That’s true in cars, it’s true in trucks.

And even if, as in Georgia, it’s not the law, it is the smart thing to do.

Buckle up.

Your family will thank you.

Copyright 2005, Anderson Independent Mail. All Rights Reserved.