Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 15, 1991 TAG: 9102150358
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Sen. Charles Waddell, D-Loudoun County, said he might try to revive his bill as an amendment to other legislation pending in the Senate.
"I'm looking at some possibilities," Waddell said. "We may try to make an end run" around the House Roads and Internal Navigation Committee.
The panel voted 13-4 not to act Thursday on Waddell's bill, which would allow police to ticket seat belt violators without first stopping them for another offense as required by the current law. The effect of the vote was to kill the bill because the committee is not scheduled to meet again this session.
Supporters of the bill, including Lt. Gov. Don Beyer, said Waddell's bill would increase compliance with the seat-belt law and save lives. Waddell said compliance with the 1988 seat-belt law, which requires the driver and front-seat passengers to buckle up, has dipped from more than 60 percent to about 50 percent.
Insurance industry representatives said fewer traffic injuries and fatalities would mean lower car-insurance premiums.
"This is a fiscally conservative measure," Beyer told the committee. "It costs nothing, it imposes no new taxes and no mandates on local governments. All it does is save a couple of thousand injuries and maybe 170 lives a year."
Waddell said the bill "could be the most important life-saving measure of this session."
However, some delegates argued that citizens have a right to endanger themselves if they so choose.
"Many residents see it as an infringement on their rights," said Del. Robert Harris, R-Fairfax.
Del. Earl Dickinson, D-Louisa County, agreed.
"People tell me, `I'm sending you down there to protect my rights, not take my rights away,' " Dickinson said.
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