It looks like the Senate has passed a version of House Bill 1237 and sent it back to the House with Amendments. Both chambers passed a bill that requires occupants in pick up trucks and SUVs to wear seat belts and for all occupants of the motor vehicle to wear seat belts instead of just in the front seat.
The Senate apparently removed House provisions that would’ve prohibited police from using traffic stops as a means of “educating” the public about the benefits of using a safety belt. In addition, the Senate removed the provision that would have prohibited operating a truck on a public highway while an individual is in the open bed of a truck. That’s not already a law?
But, the biggest sticking point is probably the Senate’s removal of a provision that would have altered the computation of how the funds in the local road and street funds are allocated. I can never remember who wins and who loses under which formulation. But, currently the allocation depends on the ratio of passenger cars in the county compared to the passenger cars in the state overall. The House version of the bill changed the ratio to be County (passenger cars + pickup trucks)/State (passenger cars + pickup trucks). So, that would alter the distribution. If that was a critical way to sell the pickup truck seat belt law to representatives with counties having a lot of pickup trucks, then there is a fair chance of seeing this thing die in conference committee. I’m just guessing though.
[tags]HB1237-2007, motor vehicles[/tags]
Doug,
Thank you for brining this to the attention of people about the road funding formula.The local papers were all over this as you can imagine with a very critical editorial view from the Washington Times Hearld in Daviess county.As many know I am against this law but if we have to have it many in our rural areas feel it’s high time we get our share of the road funding formula.
Pickups need to be counted in the road funding formula since the last time I checked they were what I call vehicles.As you can imagine the rural areas have a great number of pickups and by not counting them all these years in the formula we have been deprived of money which is not fair.Local lawmakers aready take heat over this issue around here so this won’t help the seatbelt cause for trucks.Crooks had voted for the law,Battles voted against it before the Senate stripped out the part about the road funding formula.
I read a article sometime back in the Star that stated if the bill passed with the new road funding formula in it Marion county would lose over $600,000 so right then and there I knew the Senate would strip this out of the bill.I mean we can’t have people in rural area’s taking money they should be getting anyway from Marion county!
Ah yes, there goes the legislature, removing the civil right of people to be thrown through the front of their windsheilds in the event of an accident.
In all seriousness, I’m delighted about the inclusion of pick-up trucks in both categories. Amazing what the folks in the legislature can get done when they actually put their energy to a productive purpose.
lemming,
This is easy.If the State Senate believes in this law let our rural area’s have the money we should have been getting all along for the money we pay for our plates on our pickups that are by the way vehicles although the current road funding formula doesn’t count them as such.If this happens the bill will pass easily.
Well, yeah.
Why should people be prevented from taking whatever risks they want with their own lives?
When it comes to public welfare, the anti-cell phone legislation makes more sense to me than mandatory seat-belt laws.
I do think that anyone NOT wearing a seat belt is an idiot (and I make all my passengers wear them).
But being an idiot is not a crime – otherwise, what would we do for a legislature, and what would Doug have to blog about?
I think no should have to wear a seatbelt ever. I know some people think it saves lives, but every accident I have ever been in with me driving or not I have never worn a seatbelt and I have always walked away nfrom them. In at least one accident I know for a fact that a seatbelt took a life because it severed my uncles legs and head from his body. My stepbrother who was also in the van with him was not wearing a seatbelt and lived through it, although he was in a body cast for almost a year he is still alive because he thrown to the only part of the van that was not crushed. So bring on the tickets and watch witch representatives I don’t vote for next election.