COLUMBIA, S.C. - A bill calling for more stringent enforcement of the state's seat belt law passed a Senate Transportation subcommittee Thursday and could come up for debate on the floor later this month.

It's the same type of legislation that stalled in the Senate for weeks last year and was killed when supporters wouldn't break a filibuster.

The bill gives police authority to stop adult drivers for not wearing seat belts. Under current law, adult drivers not wearing seat belts can be cited only if they are stopped for another offense or if children in the car are not properly restrained.

The legislation sets a minimum $25 fine for convictions. Unlike the current law, judges would not be allowed to reduce or drop the fine.

At a hearing before the transportation subcommittee, safety experts and parents told lawmakers about the need for tougher laws. They cited statistics showing South Carolina's highway fatalities were less than 1,000 in 2003 for the first time since 1997.

But in 2004, fatalities again surpassed 1,000 and 74 percent of those people weren't wearing seat belts, said Terecia Wilson, the agency's safety programs director.

Twenty-one states, including Georgia and North Carolina, have primary enforcement laws on seat belts and that, experts said Thursday, has led to a decrease in highway fatalities in those states.

"It works, it costs nothing and it saves lives," National Transportation Safety Board spokeswoman Debbie Hersman told the subcommittee.

Parents told stories of their losses.

In October, Tom Robinson's stepson was killed in a crash as his unrestrained body hit his car's steering wheel.

"This is all parents' worst nightmare," Robinson of Lexington told the panel. Robinson has been encouraging young drivers to buckle up and wants harsher penalties for failing to do so.

"The penalties for not obeying the law must be severe enough to get through to these kids," Robinson said.

Police should be able to suspend a young driver's license for 30 days, he said. That would get the attention of the driver and their parents.

That "is a prime example of what we need to have," Sen. Jake Knotts, R-Lexington, said. Knotts opposed changing the seat belt law last year and won't support one this year unless it carries tough penalties. "If we're going to have a seat belt law, let's make it have some teeth in it," he said.

The floor debate may be the first real test of new Senate rules intended to curb stalling tactics and filibusters.

But Senate Transportation Committee Chairman Greg Ryberg, R-Aiken, hopes there won't be any opposition. Last year, he led efforts on the bill and is chief sponsor of the Senate version of the legislation this year.

The bill has 23 co-sponsors and Ryberg says he has 25 votes - enough to pass a bill, but short of the 26 needed to end a filibuster.

He said he is leery of attempts to increase penalties. That's "just an attempt to kill the bill," Ryberg said.

Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell led filibuster efforts last year and was the seat belt bill's toughest opponent. McConnell has not reviewed Ryberg's bill, but says he has the same concerns he had last year. Those include how police would prove people weren't wearing seat belts and potential abuses that could lead to vehicle searches.

"The whole idea of the thing is to get more people to wear seat belts, not to punish them," McConnell said.

Speeders and drunk drivers are more of a danger than people who choose not wear seat belts, McConnell said. But with higher fines, police would be "spending their time checking on seat belts rather than stopping speeders," he said.