Why Wisconsin won’t buckle up
In only four other states were drivers less likely in 2009 to buckle-up than in Wisconsin, according to new statistics released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The data, based on observations of actual car passengers, was collected in June 2009, however, right before a new seat belt law took effect.
According to the data only about 73.8 percent of car passengers on the state’s roads wore their seatbelts in 2009. The federal agency conducts the study yearly. “Estimates must be obtained through a survey using actual observation of occupant shoulder belt use in vehicles on roadways,” it says.
National transportation safety groups estimate that by this time next year, statistics will show a major improvement in Wisconsin due to the new state law, which enable police to pull over drivers for not wearing their seat belts.
Otherwise, Wisconsin’s seat belt rate, as measured by the studies, hasn’t been improving in recent years. It’s declined slightly since a high of 75.4 percent in 2006, but is up from 2002, when only about two-thirds of passengers were seen wearing seat belts in Wisconsin.
“Jurisdictions with stronger seat belt enforcement laws continue to exhibit generally higher use rates than those with weaker laws,” the Administration notes.
Not wearing a seat belt became a “primary” traffic offense in Wisconsin in July 2009, a month after the seat belt survey. About 30 states now consider being unbuckled a traffic-stop-worthy offense. According to the Governors Highway Safety Association, states who make the change can expect their seat belt usage rates to increase 8 to 12 percent.
The National Safety Council made a similar but more surprising prediction: “(Wisconsin’s) seat belt use rate is expected to increase by 10 percentage points over the next year (July 2009 to July 2010) due to primary enforcement. If that occurs, 19 lives will be saved. If Wisconsin ultimately reaches 90 percent belt use, as most states do with primary enforcement, 32 lives will be saved each year.”
State Rep. Tamara Grigsby (D-Milwaukee) and the American Civil Liberties Union opposed creating the additional police power in Wisconsin. They argued it would lead to additional racial profiling. Other state and local leaders, including Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn, objected to the Legislature lumping the change into the massive state budget bill and not debating it on its own.
In 2009, the lowest seat belt rate in the country was observed in Wyoming (67.6 percent). Other states that did worse than Wisconsin were New Hampshire (68.9 percent), South Dakota (72.1 percent) and Massachusetts (73.6 percent).
Some of Wisconsin’s neighbors are a lot fonder of their seat belts. Michigan had the highest rate in the country (98 percent). Illinois did well, too, (91.7 percent), and Minnesota wasn’t far behind (90.2 percent.)