Safety Belt Laws
The South Carolina Safety Belt Law On December 9, 2005 the South Carolina Safety Belt Law was changed. The new law allows for primary enforcement of safety belt usage. Under the old secondary law an officer can only cite a motorist for a safety belt violation if the motorist has been stopped for another violation. Under the new primary law a law enforcement officer has the authority to stop a driver if the officer has a clear and unobstructed view of a driver or occupant of a motor vehicle not wearing a safety belt or not secured in a child restraint system. I feel that the changes that were made involving this law are very helpful when it comes to getting everyone to wear their safety belts. Just the other night
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I found many websites that are against the safety belt laws. One of the better websites was www.atch.com it is called Seatbelt Law Opposition Forum. The author, a William J. Holdorf states that some people have been more seriously injured and even killed only because of seat belt use. He also states that evidence of seat belt use increasing injuries or causing a person's death in certain kinds of traffic accidents is well documented in the hundreds of successful lawsuits filed against the auto makers since the advent of seat belt laws in 1985. Another good point that the author pointed out was the fact that there is a body of law that states a person has the right to refuse any personal health care device, drug, treatment, or surgery, even if such refusal might result in an earlier death or an increase in medical expenses. All seat belt laws, therefore, violate a person's right to freely choose to use or not to use a "health care" seat belt harness. Any medical professional attempting to do the same would be prosecuted, yet politicians claim they can ignore the law while demonstrating strict compliance from the private …show more content…
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that a change to the primary law will increase observed belt use 11 percentage points. This jump in belt use should prevent about 64 fatalities, 650 serious injuries, and save $140 million in economic costs annually. People often ask how a safety belt can help them if they are involved in a collision. Studies show that using a seat belt reduces the risk of dying in a vehicle by 50
I found many websites that are against the safety belt laws. One of the better websites was www.atch.com it is called Seatbelt Law Opposition Forum. The author, a William J. Holdorf states that some people have been more seriously injured and even killed only because of seat belt use. He also states that evidence of seat belt use increasing injuries or causing a person's death in certain kinds of traffic accidents is well documented in the hundreds of successful lawsuits filed against the auto makers since the advent of seat belt laws in 1985. Another good point that the author pointed out was the fact that there is a body of law that states a person has the right to refuse any personal health care device, drug, treatment, or surgery, even if such refusal might result in an earlier death or an increase in medical expenses. All seat belt laws, therefore, violate a person's right to freely choose to use or not to use a "health care" seat belt harness. Any medical professional attempting to do the same would be prosecuted, yet politicians claim they can ignore the law while demonstrating strict compliance from the private …show more content…
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that a change to the primary law will increase observed belt use 11 percentage points. This jump in belt use should prevent about 64 fatalities, 650 serious injuries, and save $140 million in economic costs annually. People often ask how a safety belt can help them if they are involved in a collision. Studies show that using a seat belt reduces the risk of dying in a vehicle by 50