S.C. seat-belt law saves lives, lands $10.5 million grant

By JOHN MONK

jmonk@thestate.com

South Carolina’s new primary seat-belt law is not only apparently saving lives — it is allowing the state to get a one-time grant of $10.5 million in federal funds.

Officials are hoping to spend the money on seat-belt education programs, anti-bias training for troopers, and advanced technology to help identify highway trouble spots.

Meanwhile, as of Thursday, 68 fewer people have died on S.C. roads this year compared with this time last year.

Safety advocates are ecstatic.

Sen. Joel Lourie, D-Richland, who with a half-dozen other lawmakers led a two-year crusade to pass a strong seat-belt law, said, “You pass a strong seat-belt law, and you save lives — it’s not rocket science.”

Last year’s passage of a primary seat-belt law — allowing police to easily issue a $25 ticket to adult motorists and passengers for not wearing a seat belt — is what qualified the state for the $10.5 million, officials said.

However, no one knew for certain if the state’s new law would qualify for federal funds. Just before passage, libertarians in the General Assembly inserted a loophole to prevent police from ticketing non-seat-belt wearers at police checkpoints. Pro-seat-belt lawmakers worried that loophole might cause federal authorities to disqualify South Carolina from federal safety funds.

But federal officials ruled that South Carolina’s new seat-belt law was strong enough in other ways to qualify for the money, said Bob Lee, Federal Highway Administration division administrator for South Carolina.

“We had enough to meet their criteria,” Lee said.

Since being notified earlier this spring that South Carolina’s new law had passed muster, state officials have been quietly discussing how to spend the $10.5 million. They confirmed the award this week when asked by The State.

Already, officials at the S.C. Department of Public Safety and the Department of Transportation are leaning toward spending the bulk of the $10.5 million on two major programs that would:

• Equip troopers investigating accidents with Global Positioning Satellite (GPS)-equipped computers. Modeled on programs in other states, the computers would allow troopers to fill out accident reports far more quickly and accurately. Troopers now fill out a paper form at the accident scene then enter that data into a computer later. And scanners would scan in driver’s license information.

The computers would allow troopers to spend more time on the road. Trooper accident data would also be easily transmitted to DOT, which would use it to identify and correct dangerous road sites in speedy ways that aren’t possible now.

• Educate police to avoid a practice known as “racial profiling,” whereby police sometimes target motorists solely because of their race. Other education programs would be aimed at low-income minority communities, to teach residents there about the new seat-belt law and the value of wearing seat belts.

Officials said that some $800,000 or more would be spent on education, and much of the rest of the $10.5 million would go to the new GPS/computer system, if current plans hold.

Rep. Joe Neal, D-Richland, who helped broker a compromise on the seat-belt law between black lawmakers seeking race protections and other lawmakers, had another suggestion for some of the $10.5 million: more in-car police cameras.

“One of the best tools for recording and documenting the interactions of citizens and police is the in-car camera,” Neal said.

Most highway patrol cars have such cameras, said Sid Gaulden, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety. But Neal said many police cars on the local level are not camera-equipped.

Under U.S. guidelines, federal officials have final approval over how South Carolina can spend the $10.5 million. Already, the Federal Highway Administration’s Lee has been discussing how to spend the money with S.C. Department of Transportation chief Elizabeth Mabry and S.C. Department of Public Safety director Jim Schweitzer.

Lee, Mabry and Schweitzer said they believe the state’s new, tougher seat-belt law is, in large part, responsible for a measurable drop in fatalities.

From Jan. 1 through June 8, 68 fewer people have died in accidents when compared with the same period last year.

“The only thing that’s different this year is the new seat-belt law,” Lee said.

Officials acknowledged that without a detailed study of this year’s accidents, it is not possible to know with absolute certainty how many, if any, of the 68 fewer fatalities are due to the new law.

Other states that have passed new seat-belt laws also have seen a decline in fatalities, they said. Studies have shown that stronger laws drive up seat-belt usage.

Another statistical indicator the new law is saving lives is the crash rate. According to a DOT study from Dec. 9 (when the new law took effect) through April, there was one fatality per 154 crashes in the state. That compares with one fatality per 132 crashes for the same period a year before.

“That’s a dramatic increase of 17 percent more crashes needed to claim a life,” said DOT safety expert Terecia Wilson.