Approve the seat-belt bill

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House and Senate lawmakers could fail to agree on a final version of the bill.

Gov. Mark Sanford may refuse to sign the bill.

Neither of those things should be allowed to scuttle this life-saving piece of legislation. State leaders have come too far to let this bill fail.

Both the House and Senate have come further than ever toward approving a tougher seat-belt law. House and Senate lawmakers agree on the major issue of the proposed primary seat-belt law: It would allow law enforcement to stop and fine a driver for not wearing a seat belt. Currently, South Carolina has a secondary seat-belt law, which allows police to issue a seat-belt ticket only to a driver who has been stopped for another violation.

On a few minor issues, House and Senate lawmakers disagree. The House legislation calls for a $25 fine with no court charges. The Senate version requires a $12 fine but also assesses court costs that would bring a ticket to $49. The House also would require the Department of Public Safety to create an outreach program to inform rural and ethnically diverse communities about the new law. Finally, the House would require officers to record information about people who are stopped for seat-belt violations, even if the officer does not issue a ticket.

It's hard to imagine that those disagreements could result in a stalemate in the waning days of the General Assembly's session. They're too insignificant to undermine the bill. The details of each version of the bill matter less than the importance of approving a primary law.

A greater concern, however, is that Gov. Mark Sanford has expressed reluctance to sign the bill. But the bottom line is this: The stronger seat-belt law would save the lives of more South Carolinians.

South Carolina has one of the lowest seat-belt usage rates in the nation. Is it any surprise that our state has the nation's third highest rate of fatalities on the road?

House and Senate leaders should resolve their differences and Sanford should sign the bill when it arrives on his desk. As departing House Speaker David Wilkins put it succinctly: "This is a simple, common sense way to save lives. For me, even very legitimate issues posed by opponents of this bill paled in comparison to making our roads safer."