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Article published Apr 1, 2004
Supporters: Seat belt brouhaha may be over
Associated Press
COLUMBIA -- Efforts to get a tougher seat
belt law through the Senate have stalled and even supporters say the bill's
going nowhere."If you don't have 28 votes, you just might as well come to that
conclusion," said Sen. Wes Hayes, R-Rock Hill, and supporter of the legislation.
"If you can't get 28 votes, you might as well move on to something else," he
said.In the Senate, 28 votes are needed to shut down the filibuster led by
Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston. He sees the bill as an
intrusion on personal freedom and a mangled piece of legislation.The bill would
allow police to stop adult drivers when they are driving without seat belts.
Police now can only enforce the seat belt law on adult drivers when they've
stopped a car for another offense.Police already can stop cars driven by people
under 18 or have passengers under 18 who aren't buckled up.With a Senate
calendar bloated to 50 pages of bills to be considered, "pressure is building to
get this bill out of the way," Hayes said.It's time to "fish or cut bait," Sen.
Larry Martin, R-Pickens and another supporter. But he concedes those backing
tougher seat belt laws lack the votes needed to end the filibuster. People who
had previously said they wanted the tougher seat belt bill haven't been in their
desks when they were needed, Martin said.McConnell says the battle is nearly
over."I sense in the Senate now that this bill is dead. It's just a question of
how it's going to be disposed of," McConnell said.A compromise could emerge that
lets voters decide the fate of a tougher seat belt law in a referendum,
McConnell said.