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Lawmakers want to make seatbelt law noncompliance a primary traffic offense
KEITH ARNOLD
Special to the Legal News
Published: June 24, 2024
A bill under consideration by members of the Criminal Justice Committee in the Ohio House of Representatives makes failure to use a seatbelt by either the driver of a motor vehicle or a front-seat passenger in the vehicle a primary offense.
Current law categorizes non-seatbelt use as a secondary offense–– one for which a law enforcement officer may not issue a citation unless a motorist has committed some other infraction resulting in a traffic stop.
“The goal of this bill is to save lives,” Rep. Jon Cross, R-Findlay, said during a hearing last week. “There is an endless amount of statistics that illustrates the wearing a seatbelt saves lives and Ohio is falling well short in this category.”
According to House Bill 536 joint sponsor, Rep. Kevin Miller––a former state trooper and Ohio State Highway Patrol post commander––the seatbelt usage rate among Ohio motorists in 2022 was about 80 percent, 10th lowest among states and well below the national average of 91.6 percent.
“We’ve got to do better because, on average, 61 percent of all traffic fatalities and 14 percent of traffic injuries in Ohio occur when the victim is not wearing their seat belt,” the Newark Republican said.
Miller said during his time at the Highway Patrol, he observed numerous traffic fatalities and injuries that he said directly resulted from an individual not wearing a seatbelt.
“I investigated hundreds of crashes where I witnessed vehicles mangled but lives saved because of a belt,” he continued. “Conversely, I saw numerous other cases where a moderate crash led to a fatality because someone was not restrained. … Often a victim’s family would ask if their loved one was buckled in. I dreaded that question because if they were not, I knew the next question coming was always ‘do you believe they would have survived if they were belted in?’ In far too many cases the answer was ‘yes.’”
HB 536, upon its enactment, also would make failure to properly secure a child in the appropriate booster seat or seat belt a primary offense.
A provision of the bill would allow a first-time offender who commits a violation of the seatbelt law or the child-restraint system law to complete an occupant-restraint safety course established by the state director of Public Safety in lieu of paying a fine for the offense.
“The goal of this bill is not to increase revenue from traffic tickets or levy increased punishment on Ohioans,” Cross said. “For that reason, the bill makes no changes to the existing fine amounts for seatbelt violations.”
HB 536 also would establish law enforcement reporting requirements to track the number of tickets issued for violations of the seatbelt law and child-restraint law.
“We can all agree that simply wearing a seatbelt is not an enormous impediment to the freedom or day-to-day lives of Ohio citizens,” Cross said. “It is a very basic activity that is proven, time and again, to save the lives of Ohioans and Ohio’s children.”
He said some may argue that seatbelt use is an individual preference.
“What about the child in the backseat, who not only stands to lose their own life because they were not properly restrained, but could also lose a parent who is not properly restrained,” he posited. “What about your regular everyday law-abiding citizen who pays each month for their car insurance, only to pay a higher price because some choose not to wear a seatbelt?”
Cross said it is reasonable to assume that insurance costs would decrease if the risk of loss of life in an auto collision was reduced.
“Statistics tell us wearing a seatbelt can reduce your risk of fatal injury by 45 percent and reduce the risk of injury by 50 percent,” Miller said. “We know states across the country with primary seat belt laws see higher usage rates. This means making Ohio’s seatbelt law a primary offense will translate to a greater seat belt compliance which will in turn save lives and reduce injuries.”
The bill’s sponsors worked with the Department of Public Safety, Buckeye Sheriffs Association, Ohio Association of Chiefs of Police, AAA, Nationwide Children’s Hospital and Ohio Trucking Association in crafting the legislation, which awaits further consideration by the committee.
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