MassPINN supports efforts to bring a Primary Enforcement law to Massachusetts. Current state law does not allow motorists to be stopped by police for not wearing a seat belt, rendering the law ineffective and accounting for our state’s last place standing in seat belt compliance across the country.
MassPINN Testimony on Senate Bill 950 Seat belt primary enforcement
Belts Ensure a Safer Tomorrow: Primary Seat Belt Bill Facts
Here are the facts:
1. Are motor vehicle crashes a big problem?
a. Motor Vehicle Crash is the #1 cause of death in the US from ages 5 to 34 (Center for Disease control 2005 data).
b. In 2007, 277 people died while riding in cars and light trucks in Massachusetts
c. Of these 65 percent died while not wearing their seat belts (2006 FARS)
2. How helpful are seatbelts?
a. Seatbelts reduce the risk of death in a crash by 45 percent.
b. Airbags, in comparison, reduce the risk of death by 10 percent at best.
c. Seatbelts prevent 99 % of ejections.
3. What are the financial costs of car crashes in the US and Massachusetts?
a. Traffic crashes cost the nation about $230 billion each year in medical expense, lost productivity, property damage, and related costs.
b. Massachusetts pays $6.3 billion of these costs.
c. That is $988 for every resident of Massachusetts, each year.
d. About seventy-four percent of that cost is paid by citizens not involved in the crashes.
e. Crashes cost employers more than $1.1 billion annually in the State, and about $390 per
employee.
f. Mass is entitled to about $13.6 million of federal money if it enacts a new primary seat belt law. We currently do not receive this money. (The Safety Belt Performance Grants in Section 2005 of SAFETEA-LU)
3. What percent of Americans use seatbelts? How about Massachusetts?
| 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | |
| USA | 79 % | 80 | 82 | 81 | 82 | 82 |
| Mass | 62 % | 63 | 65 | 67 | 69 | 67 |
4. What is Primary Enforcement?
a. In States with primary seat belt laws, law enforcement officers may stop a vehicle and issue a citation when the officer observes an unbelted driver or passenger.
b. Officers in States with secondary enforcement seat belt laws may only write a citation after the officer stops the vehicle or cites the offender for another infraction.
5. Why is a Primary Enforcement Law Important?
a. Primary Belt laws increase seatbelt use- this has been proven. For example, when Mississippi passed a primary law in 2006, seatbelt use increased from 61 to 73 percent IN JUST ONE YEAR.
b. If Massachusetts were to pass a primary belt law, seat belt usage would increase by approximately 13 percentage points. (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration NHTSA)
6. What effect would increased seatbelt use have in Mass?
a. With a primary seat belt law, each year Massachusetts would save 27 lives and prevent more than 1,000 serious non-fatal injuries.
c. It would also save $260million in medical, property and other related costs each year. (based on a 13 percent belt use increase, NHTSA)
6. What about fears of using the law to target certain groups? Aka “Racial Profiling”
a. This is an unacceptable problem in our society
b. We have a very strong law in place to prevent racial profiling (Chapter 90C, Section 2 of the MGL.
c. We have evidence from Louisiana that a primary seatbelt law does NOT increase profiling
d. Minority seatbelt use is lower than for whites, so minorities have more to gain with a primary law
e. This is why Barack Obama helped enact a primary seatbelt law in Illinois.
7. Doesn’t this just give the police another reason to pull us over? It infringes on my liberty?
a. Seatbelt use already is the law. So this law does not affect it.
b. Police specifically are prohibited from using this law as an excuse to search a vehicle.
c. Besides, there are already hundreds of other reasons that police have to pull over a vehicle
8. At what point does a person have to take responsibility for his/her own actions?
a. We should all be responsible for our own actions.
b. Why should those of us who are responsible have to pay for those who are not
c. Car crashes cost every taxpayer $988 / year plus their effects on health insurance, car insurance etc.