COLUMBIA, S.C. - Adult drivers could be stopped for not wearing seat belts under a bill nearing key approval in the Senate.

Current law allows police to stop unbelted adults for other violations, but not just to enforce the state's mandatory seat belt laws. Police can stop adult drivers if they see unrestrained minors in the car and can stop minor drivers if they aren't wearing belts.

Opponents of the legislation waged a losing battle Wednesday to amend the bill to have stiff fines. The legislation imposes a $25 fine.

"Let's save some lives. Let's make it a thousand dollars," Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Bonneau, said.

Other legislators wanted the seat belt offenses to be reported on driving records and to insurance companies.

But supporters succeeded in turning back nearly every amendment.

The legislation is not about imposing fines or raising insurance rates, Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, said.

If a driver is "willing to pay $25, he cannot wear his seat belt," Hutto said.

Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, helped lead efforts to load the bill up with amendments in an effort to kill it. He said he'd learned long ago that "if you can't derail it, try to load it down with baggage."

The Senate adjourned for the day with supporters fretting an amendment that called for police to keep statistics on racial profiling. They had failed to eliminate that amendment.

"You're killing this bill and preventing us from moving forward in saving lives in South Carolina," Hutto said. "This is the ultimate load on this wagon."