The day after Dale Earnhardt crashed at Daytona in 2001, the focus of the investigation became the seat belt. In the weeks following his death NASCAR insisted the seat belt breaking caused the fatality, while the manufacturer claimed Earnhardt must have released the latch. Every NASCAR fan knows seat belts save lives which is why the no one expects anyone to be killed simply by hitting a concrete wall at nearly 200 mph. I was bummed out for days.
Today Rep. Garey Bies (R-Sister Bay) announces that seat belt legislation he introduced has died at the Capital.
Seat Belt Bill Defeated in Committee: Madison… The Assembly Committee on Transportation last week voted down legislation that would have established standard enforcement of Wisconsin’s current Seatbelt law. The legislation would have allowed law enforcement to stop drivers for not complying with current law requiring the use of seatbelts on state roads.Good. Seat belts are the best personal safety devices for all occupants of a vehicle in motion. Every person should buckle up every time. That does not change the fact that these are personal safety systems and not items like brake lights and turn signals that directly effect the interaction with other traffic.
Individual safety and personal responsibility should be taught and encouraged, but I am not comfortable with any legislation authorizing police to interfere with my peaceful pursuit of daily life, even if it is for my own good. The initial 2003 press release is blunt about this legislation being designed to punish citizens in advance for their own good.
Press Release 2003: Legislation was introduced today to require standard (or primary) enforcement of the state's seatbelt law. This means that motorists could be pulled over for an observed failure to buckle up. The possibility of receiving a citation for not wearing a seatbelt has proven in other states to be the most effective method to encourage more persons to comply with the state’s seatbelt law.Representative Bies worked in the Door County Sheriffs Department prior to winning his legislative seat and he highlights legitimate concerns from both statistics and personal experience. The following numbers are probably true.
Upgrading to standard enforcement has resulted in an average 17 percentage point increase in seat belt use in states that have gone from secondary to standard enforcement. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration estimates that a 15 percentage point increase in seatbelt use spurred by a standard enforcement law in Wisconsin could be expected to save as many as 80 lives, prevent up to 2,086 injuries and save as much as $230 million in medical costs and lost time annually.My concern as a citizen is that seat belts become a government issue only after an existing law such as speeding, operating while intoxicated or plain old reckless driving is violated. I believe behavior changes when government punishes people, but I don’t believe there is justice in anticipatory or preemptive repression of this politically defined risky private behavior. I am not ready for this level of a police state.
