Tougher MN seat-belt bill advances

01/25/2007

CONRAD deFIEBRE
Last update: January 24, 2007 – 9:47 PM


A move to put more teeth in the Minnesota law that requires motorists to wear seat belts was overwhelmingly approved Wednesday by a House subcommittee, despite objections that belted people can suffer worse injuries in some kinds of crashes than unbelted ones.

Donette Triantaphyllithou, 65, of Minneapolis told legislators of two times when her car was struck from the side, saying: "Had I been wearing a belt, I would have been killed, or worse yet, become a vegetable." Instead, she said, she escaped with minor injuries.

"Seat belts may be good for front and back impact, but not for side impact," she said. "Wearing a seat belt or not should be left up to a driver." She insists that her passengers buckle up, she added.

But Dr. Merle Hillman, president-elect of the Minnesota chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians, testified that he had seen many crash victims killed or maimed because they failed to strap in. Asked about injuries caused by seat belts, he said he had seen bruises, but never a death.

Seat-belt use has been the law in Minnesota since 1986, but police have never been allowed to stop and ticket drivers simply for ignoring it. Officers can issue seat-belt citations only if they first spot another violation.

Police and traffic safety officials as well as medical experts are united in support of changing that, saying it would increase belt use from the current 83 percent to 93 percent or more while reducing annual traffic fatalities by 40 and serious injuries by 400. They also estimate millions of dollars in savings on medical costs and note that $18 million in federal incentives are available if the state adopts a tougher law.

A lopsided voice vote of the Transportation and Transit Policy Subcommittee sent the bill, H.F. 106, sponsored by Rep. Paul Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis, to the Public Safety and Civil Justice Committee.