Make buckling up more than a secondary requirement

By: Irv Slosberg

D-Boca Raton -- a member of the Florida House of Representatives

February 23, 2004

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Today is the eighth anniversary of my 14-year-old daughter Dori's death. It didn't have to be that way.

Dori snuck out of the movies with friends. A 19-year-old offered them a ride. Dori wasn't wearing her seat belt. The driver, who was wearing a safety belt, left the hospital after a couple of days with only minor injuries. The front-seat passenger, who was also wearing a seat belt, walked away without a scratch.

According to the National Safety Council, the lives of 1,330 Floridians during the past eight years could have been saved, Dori's included, if law officers had been allowed to ticket solely for failure to wear a safety belt. My bill - HB 15, the "Dori Slosberg Safety Belt Law" - proposes they be given that authority.

Current state law permits them to ticket for not wearing a seat belt only if the vehicle is stopped for another reason.

Car crashes are the leading cause of death for Americans ages 2 through 33. But we have the vaccine - seat belts. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, only 72.6 percent of Floridians buckled up in 2003.

Last year, the House passed this legislation in a 108-3 vote. Why didn't the Senate act on it?

Senators blocked this legislation for the past two decades. Senate President Jim King said he believed "primary" enforcement of the safety-belt law was "big-brotherhood." Why is it OK for "big brother" to stop a vehicle for having a taillight out, but not stop a vehicle when the most effective safety device in the car is not utilized?

Sen. Dan Webster says lawmakers should put families first. Then why isn't protecting the lives of family members a priority?

Opponents can't hide behind the excuse this law would give police another excuse to racially profile drivers. Seventy percent of the state's black legislators recognize that this legislation would save lives. In fact, the National Conference of Black Mayors places primary enforcement of the safety belt law at the top of its issues.

According to the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, crashes are the leading cause of death and injury to black children ages 0 to 14. According to its findings, black and Hispanic children are nearly three times as likely to die in a crash because they are not wearing seat belts.

Florida is ranked 49th for high school graduation rates. We are first in violent crimes. And we are 40th in median income. It would be so easy to rise from 38th in the nation in safety belt use - a C- in road safety as far as the National Council of State Legislators is concerned.

All we have to do to move to an A in traffic safety is give officers the authority to ticket when seat belts aren't in use. It shouldn't have to be a secondary offense.

Florida would not only save lives and money, but also gain a one-time federal government incentive of about $37.3 million for highway safety, plus a $6 million to $9 million annual stipend based on compliance, under a bill pending in Congress.

According to The New York Times, the United States was the world leader in traffic safety for the past two decades. How did we fall to number 9 behind countries such as Australia, Britain and Canada? States like Florida are dragging the statistics down.

Come on, senators. Let's be number one in something important. We have the opportunity to show the country Florida's leadership. Together, we can make public safety our first priority.

IRV SLOSBERG is a Democrat from Boca Raton. He was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in 2000 and is vice chairman of the Subcommittee on Highway Safety.

Contact him at slosberg.irving@myfloridahouse.com