New legislation intended to toughen Louisiana’s seat belt use laws moved unanimously out of the Transportation and Public Works committee and will be voted on by the full House of Representatives. Current law only requires driver and front seat passengers to wear seat belts. If enacted, the new law would require all passengers, both front and back, to wear seat belts.
No one spoke against the bill and not one representative in the committee opposed the new legislation which may indicate easy passage in the full House and Senate. Apparently our representatives are listening to their constituents who are concerned about saving lives in auto crashes. Only one in three people use back seat belts according to the latest surveys but a disproportionate amount of car crash fatalities involve back seat passengers. Passage of this law makes economic sense and most importantly, will save lives.
Richard J. Arsenault, 2010
