Friday, November 26, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

EDITORIAL: Seat belt laws

The federal government this week released the latest national seat-belt use figures and they undermine the arguments of those who pester Nevada lawmakers to impose a "primary" seat belt law.

Primary laws give police the power to make a traffic stop solely for a seat belt offense. Under "secondary" laws, like the one in Nevada, police may issue a ticket to a motorist for not wearing a seat belt only if the driver was pulled over for another offense.

For years, local safety advocates have lobbied the Legislature to pass a primary seat belt law, arguing it was an important means of increasing usage. But the numbers show Nevada's compliance rate increased 10 percent between 2003 and 2004 to 86.6 percent without such a law.

That's the biggest increase of any state save Arizona, which also doesn't have a primary seat belt law. It puts Nevada 12th in the nation in terms of seat belt usage.

Primary seat belt laws give law enforcement agents a virtual carte blanche to conduct traffic stops. Nevada's recent experience proves states don't need more intrusive statutes to persuade more people to buckle up.