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| House Approves Seat Belt Enforcement Bill |
| (Columbia-AP) -- The House approved a bill
today that would allow police to stop a motorist for not wearing a
seat belt. The bill would create a primary law allowing seat belt enforcement. South Carolina currently has a secondary seat belt law for adults. That means police can not ticket a motorist who is 18 or older for seat-belt violations unless the motorist is pulled over for another reason, such as speeding. Opponents say the bill gives government more power and takes away an individual's rights. But supporters say the greater good of society occasionally overrides personal liberties. Representative Joel Lourie says South Carolina's traffic fatality rate is the third-highest in the nation. He says about one thousand people are killed and 50 thousand injured on South Carolina highways each year. He says the majority of those people killed do not wear seat belts. |