New life seen for seat belt proposal

JEFFERSON CITY — A controversial provision that would give more authority to police officers in ticketing drivers and passengers for seat belt violations may get another chance Wednesday night, Tom Dempsey, House majority floor leader, R-St. Charles, said Monday.

Rep. Neil St. Onge, R-Ellsville, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, has proposed a bill that would give officers the authority to pull over any vehicle in which a passenger or driver isn’t wearing his or her seat belt. Currently, an officer can give a ticket to an unbuckled offender, but only after the driver of the vehicle has been pulled over for a separate offense.

The reason for the controversy that might keep the bill from amending the seat belt law: Seat belt provisions have typically had problems getting through the General Assembly.

Rep. Jeff Roorda, D-Barnhart, has sponsored a similar bill, except for a provision that would “deal with the problem of racial profiling,” he said. Roorda said in a January interview that similar seat belt laws haven’t passed in previous sessions because opponents have said the law would make it easier for police officers to racially profile drivers.

St. Onge said that he expects Roorda’s bill to “go on” and that he plans on supporting it.

But both Roorda and St. Onge said that the issue that could prove hazardous to the bill’s passage is one of “civil liberties.”

Ken Sears, the executive director of the Missouri State Troopers Association — which represents Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers and their interests — said the statistics show that “more lives are saved if (drivers) wear seat belts.”

“It’s safe to say we have seen way too many deaths,” he said.

Capt. Tim Hull, spokesman for the Missouri State Highway Patrol, said some drivers can currently be stopped solely for not wearing a seat belt. For example, officers may now stop drivers in “small” pickup trucks if the driver is under 18 years old and not wearing a seat belt, Hull said. Officers can also ticket drivers with unbuckled passengers who are between 8 and 16 years old.

Hull said, citing the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Web site, that there is a 1 in 32 chance of being killed in a car accident when not wearing a seat belt, compared to a 1 in 1,017 chance of not being killed if wearing a seat belt during an accident.

St. Onge said that 25 states have primary seat belt laws like the one he’s proposing. In anticipation for the bill’s planned move to the House floor Wednesday, St. Onge said that he is optimistic.

“There has been a big grass roots effort, and I think we have the votes to pass it.”