$11 Million Available to Kentucky If It Enacts Stronger Seat Belt Law

Weak Seat Belt Law Results in Low Seat Belt Use, High Fatalities, According to Experts

FRANKFORT, Ky., Sept. 30 -- Kentucky is eligible for a $11,210,594 grant if it strengthens its seat belt law to allow law enforcement officers to stop and issue citations to motorists based solely on a seat belt violation -- referred to as a primary law. Under Kentucky's current law, officers must witness a violation of another traffic law before stopping someone for not buckling up.

Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia have passed primary enforcement laws. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, seat belt use averages eleven percentage-points higher in states that have primary enforcement laws. Primary laws cover more than 60 percent of the U.S. population.

"As a nation, we have reached a major milestone in achieving 82 percent seat belt use, but most of the states with the highest belt use rates have armed law enforcement officers with the best tool to save lives -- a primary seat belt law," said Phil Haseltine, Executive Director of the Air Bag & Seat Belt Safety Campaign of the National Safety Council. "It is our hope that these funds will add that extra incentive, especially at a time when budgets are tight, for Kentucky legislators to heed the call of law enforcement, the safety community, and most importantly, its citizens, to enact a law that has proven to save lives."

The surface transportation legislation signed by the President into law on August 10th provides one-time grants equal to 4.75 times a state's annual (Section 402) highway safety allocation to states that pass primary enforcement seat belt laws covering all passenger vehicles or, absent a primary enforcement law, achieve seat belt use of 85 percent or greater for two consecutive years. States having primary enforcement laws prior to December 2002 receive smaller one-time grants.

According to Kentucky's annual observational seat belt survey, belt use increased .7 percentage points in 2005 to 66.7 percent.

According to a study conducted by the Campaign in 2003, 482 lives were lost in traffic crashes from 1995-2002 because Kentucky failed to follow a National Transportation Safety Board recommendation to enact a stronger seat belt law.

"It is clear that primary enforcement laws are an effective tool to help convince the minority of motorists who don't buckle up to wear seat belts more frequently," Haseltine added.

The Air Bag & Seat Belt Safety Campaign, a program of the National Safety Council, is a public/private partnership of automotive manufacturers, insurance companies, child safety seat manufacturers, government agencies, health professionals and child health and safety organizations. The goal of the Campaign is to increase the proper use of safety belts and child safety seats and to inform the public about how to maximize the lifesaving capabilities of air bags while minimizing the risks.