State ready to make buckling up mandatory
Posted Tuesday, November 15, 2005 - 6:00
am
By Claire Anderson
STAFF
WRITER
canderson@greenvillenews.com
South Carolina is on target to have another record-breaking year as the
number of fatalities on the state's roads soars toward 1,000. But highway safety
experts say the state is poised to take a step that could cut that number.
On Dec. 9, law enforcement will be able to pull over drivers for not wearing
seat belts. As it stands now, drivers can only be ticketed for not wearing seat
belts after they are pulled over for another driving offense.
South Carolina has one of the lowest seat-belt use rates, ranking 46th or
47th each year, said Max Young, director of the state Department of Public
Safety. But the new law could raise seat-belt use by 11 percent, jumping the
number of users in the state to 81 percent, according to National Highway Safety
Transportation data.
2005 STATE SEATBELT STATISTICS
749 people have died so far in 2005 in vehicles with seat belts ...
520 of them weren't buckled up
78.7 percent of women wear seat belts
62.2 percent of men wear seat belts
Wearing a seat belt reduces the risk of death by 50 percent, which for South
Carolina translates into prevented fatalities, 650 less serious injuries and
$140 million saved in economic costs, according to highway safety data.
Dilution factor: Weakening the law is the fine amount ($25) and a violation
that doesn't go on your record or result in a point, says Sid Gaulden, state
Department of Public Safety spokesman. He adds that at a safety check, an
officer can only write a ticket if someone refuses to buckle up or is cited for
another violation first. But he said the law has "enough teeth to be effective."