The bill passed by the Legislature increased the current fine from $25 to $150. Sanford vetoed the bill last week, saying that is was an intrusion into an area of parental responsibility and because it did not include a clause allowing lawyers to tell juries when someone injured in a wreck was not wearing a seat belt.

The Senate overrode that veto with a 26-3 vote. Then the House voted 60-14 to override, making the bill a new law.

We take issue with Sanford's notion that this law is too invasive of parental responsibility. Children covered by the law are too young to protect themselves, so it's up to parents to do so. If they fail in that responsibility, the state has a legitimate right to step in.

It happens all of the time in child welfare cases. Sanford seems to suggest that parents have a right to neglect their children's welfare when the family is in a car. That's nonsense.

One could argue that Sanford is on firmer ground in insisting that information about who was or wasn't buckled up be shared during injury trials. That information could be relevant in deciding the culpability of the other driver when the victim failed to wear a seat belt.

Sanford offered that same reason when threatening to veto the mandatory seat belt law passed by the Legislature last year. In the end, though, he allowed the bill to become law without his signature rather than vetoing it.

In both instances, we think he is guilty of nitpicking. Clearly, requiring people to buckle up and punishing parents for failing to properly restrain their children are important measures that serve the public good.

In 2005, at least 1,084 people died in traffic accidents in the state. That was the third-deadliest year on record and the highest in 18 years.

Requiring people to wear seat belts could reduce the carnage. And the new law with stiffer fines for parents who neglect the safety of their children also could save lives.

Sanford may have hoped for a better bill, but that was not sufficient reason to veto this one.

IN SUMMARY
Legislature was correct in overriding Sanford's veto of child safety restraint bill.