AIKEN - Wanda Smith stood shoulder-to-shoulder with seven other women Thursday, solemnly cradling a family portrait of her son and his then-infant daughter.

She listened silently as state and local law enforcement officials preached something she already believes:

Buckling up can save a person's life in a car wreck.

Her son, Travis Watford, was killed in an April 2004 car wreck, one of more than 1,000 people killed on South Carolina roads last year.

If he had been wearing his seat belt that day, she said, he would probably be telling everyone how it saved his life.

Instead, she drove alone from Lexington County to support South Carolina's tough new seat belt law, which goes into effect today.

"He was ejected from the vehicle," Ms. Smith said. "So I think a seat belt would have saved him. The cab was intact. If he had been buckled in, I'm sure he would be with me today."

She and the other women were at a news conference held by the South Carolina Department of Public Safety on Thursday, one of several across the state focusing on the seat belt law.

If public safety officials are right, the new law will save 64 lives a year by increasing seat belt use by 11 percent.

Under the new law, an officer can pull over a driver for not buckling up. No other traffic violation is needed, as was previously the case.

Starting today, drivers caught not wearing their seat belts will be hit with a $25 fine.

According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, South Carolina has the 15th-highest traffic fatality rate in the country.

The tougher provision has been hailed by traffic safety experts, but Joy Batchelor predicts that many drivers will fight the new rule.

Ms. Batchelor was among the women who provided support for the new law and has been an active supporter of traffic safety programs for the South Carolina Highway Patrol since her three sons were killed in 2002.

They were not wearing seat belts.

"People are going to fight it," Ms. Batchelor said. "They're not going to want it. They think it's another way for the government to control them, or get money. But it's not."

The law is just about saving lives, she said.

It doesn't appear that state and local authorities are too concerned about backlash against the new law.

Lt. Tim Pearson, of North Augusta Public Safety, flatly said that it sends a message to drivers that "we are not going to tolerate foolishness on the highway."

"One click" can mean the difference between life and death, he said.

"One fatality's too much," Lt. Pearson said as he gestured to the women standing before him.

"We're tired of knocking on doors of people like this to tell them their loved one's not coming home," the officer told those assembled.

South Carolina's on a pace to set a record for the number of traffic fatalities in a single year, said Ed Harmon, the planning and evaluation manager in the state's Public Safety Department.

"South Carolina has averaged more than 1,000 highway deaths for too many years now," he said.

Reach Sandi Martin at (803) 648-1395, ext. 111, or sandi.martin@augustachronicle.com.