Gov. Mark Sanford disagrees with intrusive laws that try to save people from their own stupidity. This is the same state, he reasons, that allows operation of a motorcycle without a helmet but still requires adults to buckle up.
The governor allowed common sense to prevail over his potential veto for one reason. Public Safety Director Jim Schweitzer presented an argument he couldn't ignore. When the General Assembly passed a seat belt law in 1989, it also told law enforcement officers that they couldn't enforce it against adults. Officers could cite an adult for not buckling up only if they pulled them over for another cause.
While nanny lawmaking rankles the governor, a primary seat belt law is a highway-safety issue, and those who don't buckle up could jeopardize the lives of other people in the event of an accident. A driver's life is jeopardized by not wearing a seat belt. South Carolina had the third-highest traffic-fatality rate in the nation last year. The 2005 death rate is running ahead of 2004. Through Thursday, 472 people had been killed on state highways; 367 had access to seat belts, but 273 (73.3 percent) weren't buckled up. (A high number of injuries and fatalities means higher insurance costs for other drivers.)
The seat belt usage rate in these incidents was extremely low, lower than the state's normal average. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the national average for seat belt use is 80 percent; South Carolina trailed all but four states with in 2004 with a 65.7 percent usage, down from 72.3 percent in 2003. Drivers in neighboring Georgia and North Carolina had a much higher use rate, 86.7 percent and 86.1 percent, respectively. South Carolina's use rate is more than 29 percent lower than Arizona and Hawaii, states with the highest use rate.
The governor makes excellent points in most of his arguments. The law has flaws. It makes little sense that dispensing contact lenses illegally commands a $5,000 fine while a driver not buckling up gets a $25 citation. Prohibiting seat belt usage as evidence in court is another flaw.
But the state approves flawed laws every year. Flawed or not, when the law goes into effect Dec. 9, it has the potential to save lives, but it also allows law enforcement officers to perform their jobs. It takes the handcuffs off them and puts the onus on adult drivers. We commend the governor for putting aside his personal objections to allow proper enforcement.