Lawmakers Urge Support for Legislation That Would Save Millions of Dollars

    Primary Enforcement Seat Belt Bill (SB 1325) Crosses Over to House

  WHAT:      Lawmakers, business leaders and concerned community activists
             will advocate Senate Bill 1325, legislation that would bring
             the state's seat belt law in line with every other traffic
             violation, and allow police officers to ticket a driver solely
             for not wearing a seat belt.

             Virginia's Senate voted 24-16 in favor of SB 1325.  The bill
             goes back to the House Transportation Committee, where a
             similar measure failed to pass after a tie vote last month.

  WHERE:     The Capitol, House Room 5
             Richmond, Virginia

  WHEN:      Monday, February 10, 2003, 10:00 a.m.

  WHY:       Seat belts are the most effective way to protect motor vehicle
             passengers from injuries, yet according to the Virginia
             Transportation Research Council, more than two million
             Virginians do not buckle up.  A primary law would save hundreds
             of lives, given that states with primary laws have seat belt
             use that is consistently 10 to 15 percentage points higher than
             secondary law states.

             The decision of others not to buckle up affects all Virginians.
             In addition to the tragic loss of human life, we are all
             subjected to the economic impact.  Unbelted crash victims force
             us all to face higher medical and auto insurance premiums,
             worker's compensation and lost work productivity.  Society pays
             85 percent of these costs -- not the individual drivers
             involved.  These costs affect the state budget, taking away
             funds that support vital state programs.

  WHO:       Senator William C. Mims (R - Fairfax/Loudoun)
             Delegate Joe T. May (R - Clark/Loudoun)
             Patty French, Co-chair, Virginia Coalition for Child Safety

The VCCS is a network of concerned parents, community activists, medical professionals, educators, law enforcement officers and political leaders determined to create a safe environment for our children.

CONTACT: Lindsay Rubin, +1-703-980-4906, or vccs1@yahoo.com, for the Virginia Coalition for Child Safety.

PRNewswire -- Feb. 7

Source: Virginia Coalition for Child Safety