COLUMBIA, S.C. - Gov. Mark Sanford vetoed a bill Wednesday night that would increase the fines for not properly restraining a child in a vehicle.

The legislation would increase the current fine from $25 to $150. But Sanford's spokesman Joel Sawyer said the governor vetoed the bill because it did not include a clause allowing lawyers to tell juries when someone injured in a wreck was not wearing a seat belt.

Sanford had told legislators last year that he let a tougher seat belt bill become law without his signature even though he didn't think the penalties were harsh enough and that legislation left people unaccountable for injuries caused by deciding not to buckle up. He said he would veto future bills that didn't make people responsible for their decisions.

In his veto letter for the child restraint bill, Sanford said the "attempt at attaching personal responsibility to this offense by increasing a modest fine is halfhearted at best. In any case, I am bound by my earlier words to veto this legislation."

The governor also said he thinks government must be careful intruding on homes and families. "Small children should be secured in safety seats, but making sure they do so is the primary responsibility of parents, not the government," Sanford wrote.

Should parents face arrest "because society at large holds a different view of risks they have deemed acceptable within their own family?" Sanford wrote. "Should government manufactured safety seats financed with your tax dollars ultimately be a requirement in all cars?"

The bill and similar legislation "saps parents of their duty to be responsible" and increases dependence of government, Sanford wrote.

The legislation requires judges to drop the fine if the driver shows they have acquired a car seat before their case is heard.

The veto is likely touch off strong reaction from legislators who have been trying to reduce fatalities on the state's roads. In 2005, at least 1,084 people died in South Carolina traffic accidents, - the third-deadliest year on record and the highest in 18 years.

The child restraint bill is "a very important piece of legislation to protect the lives and safety of children," Sen. Joel Lourie, D-Columbia, said.

Lourie's been one of the Legislature's top advocates for tougher seat belt laws. "It shouldn't be tied to another issue like admissibility in a courtroom. This is about protecting children," he said.

Lourie said lawmakers would immediately start work to override the veto.

Sanford also decided to let a bill requiring pharmacists and others selling cold medicines and other drugs containing pseudoephedrine to keep records of who buys the drugs to become law without his signature. The substance can be used to make methamphetamine.

Sanford was concerned the bill would require too much paperwork for business owners, but decided not to veto it. Also, a federal law will require similar reporting, Sawyer said.

Earlier in the day, Sanford went through with his promised veto of a bill that would have let Lexington Medical Center open a heart care center opposed by state regulators.

The state Department of Health and Environmental Control can decide where different types of health care facilities can be built or expanded through what's called a certificate of need process. DHEC opposed the new heart center.

Sanford said in his veto message the process is flawed. "Unfortunately this legislation does not fix the process," Sanford wrote.

It will be up to the House to decide whether Sanford's veto stands. Members will need to muster a two-thirds vote to override the veto.

Sanford also vetoed a Senate bill that would have let Lexington County health service district security officers attend the state Criminal Justice Academy. Sanford said it was unconstitutional special legislation that affected just one county.