Count Rep. Ed Emery, R-Lamar, as one of those who will oppose a law which would allow officers to arrest drivers for not wearing their seatbelt, even absent of any other violations.
According to an article in the Feb. 13 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Emery said:
"I don't get into a car without putting on my seat belt, but the government doesn't have a right to force people to buckle up," said Rep. Ed Emery, R-Lamar. "It's an education issue, not an enforcement issue."
Proponents of the bill offered a different thought:
The cost of treating an unbuckled person injured in an accident, including $10 million a year in Medicaid statewide, make primary seat belt laws needed, said Dr. Douglas Schuerer, director of trauma at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. "Society, the hospital, the victim's family, they all pay when someone who isn't wearing their seat belt gets injured," Schuerer said.
1 comment:
I'd go along with the bill, but in the event that someone suffers personal injuries while unbelted I think their insurance should be released from liability.
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