Seat Belt Laws

Improving Missouri's safety belt law would save about 90 lives and prevent more than 1,000 serious injuries each year, the head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration told state legislators today in Jefferson City.

NHTSA Administrator Dr. Jeffrey W. Runge testified before the Senate Transportation Committee in support of primary safety belt legislation.   Primary enforcement would allow officers to pull over motorists solely for not wearing a safety belt.   Current state law allows only secondary enforcement, meaning motorists can be ticketed only if the driver was first pulled over for another offense.

"Our data clearly show that upgrading Missouri's safety belt law to primary enforcement is the most effective way for Missouri to reduce traffic deaths, injuries, and their costs -- more than vehicle improvements -- more than road and intersection improvements -- more than any other piece of legislation you might consider," Runge said.

Only about 76 percent of Missourians buckle up, he said.   The national average is 80 percent.   "More than a quarter of your state's population - about 1.4 million people - are still not buckling up," Runge said.  

Missouri's neighboring states with primary safety belt laws, Iowa and Illinois, have use rates of 86 percent and 83 percent respectively.

In 2003, 994 people died while riding in cars and trucks in Missouri.  

"Three hundred of those who died were between 14 and 24 years of age," he said.   "Seventy percent of these young occupants were not wearing safety belts.   If these young people had been belted, about 100 would be with their families today.

"You have the power to turn 'if only he'd worn his safety belt' into 'thank God he was wearing his safety belt,'" Runge said.

"Our studies and our experience make it clear that young people do not respond to isolated educational messages about belt use, but they do change their habits with the threat of a ticket and fine," he said.

The problem is particularly pronounced in pickup trucks.   In 2003, 82 percent of the 209 people who died in pickups in the state were unbelted. The proportion unbelted is even higher among 14 to 24 year-olds, with 84 percent not wearing their belts.

Under a proposed highway authorization bill, Runge added that Missouri could also earn $17 million in federal incentive money by enacting this legislation.

Before becoming NHTSA administrator, Dr. Runge spent 20 years practicing emergency medicine.  "This law is about our core value of human life. In Missouri, it's about 90 human lives every year," he said

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