Seat-belt measure stumbles by 6 votes in House

Once again, a bill that would have given Utah a primary seat-belt law stumbled in the House.

SB36, which would have changed Utah's safety-belt law from a secondary offense to a primary offense for all drivers, failed by six votes, 33-39.

Currently, only drivers younger than 19 years old can be stopped and ticketed by police. Other drivers can be cited if they are first stopped for a different reason.

Sen. Pat Jones, D-Salt Lake, sponsored the bill and helped shepherd it out of the Senate.

Last year, similar legislation made it out of the Senate but failed in the House. She hoped a sunset provision in the legislation would have helped the bill pass. With the provision, the law would have expired after three years.

The bill's House sponsor, Rep. Sheryl Allen, R-Bountiful, was disappointed with the outcome. "I think it's very unfortunate because this was a way to save lives."

During floor debate, Allen pointed out that not wearing a seat belt is already illegal. She also used the impact accidents have on taxpayers and the sunset clause as selling points.

"We have heard a number of studies that say ... seat belts do save lives. . ."

But, the bill met resistance from Rep. Carl Wimmer, R-Herriman.

Wimmer, who is a police officer by profession, told his fellow House members that he had been on the scene of many fatal car accidents and knew the consequences of not buckling up.

But Wimmer said the bill represented "heavy-handed government." Something he called "uglier than any death I've ever seen."

Rep. Curt Oda, R-Clearfield, dismissed the sunset clause when he offered a very different substitute version of the bill. "Once it's enacted it's not really ever going to go away."

Oda's version didn't address the criminal status of the seat-belt law. Instead, it would have made seat-belt use admissible evidence in civil court proceedings. Under his bill, lawsuit judgments could be lowered if an injured driver was not buckled up. Right now, Utah courts don't consider safety-belt usage.

He said his substitute version would help lower insurance rates.

"There's got to be some personal responsibility here," Oda said.

Allen strongly opposed Oda's version. She said it was a "complete policy change from the original bill."

But the House voted 38-34 in favor of substituting the measure, then rejected it in the final vote. Allen voted in favor of the substitute bill.

Jones said the last-minute substitution by Oda could have confused some of the House members.

She hasn't decided whether or not she will run a primary seat-belt law next session.

AAA of Utah spokeswoman Rolayne Fairclough was disappointed by the outcome but was pleased the vote was so close.

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E-mail: smansell@desnews.com