Motor vehicle-related injury is the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged one to 24 in the United States.  Six out of ten children who die in crashes are unrestrained, even though child restraint laws have been in place across the country for approximately the last fifteen years.  When you don’t wear your seat belt, it is everybody’s business. If you survive an unbelted car crash, you are likely to sustain an extremely serious disabling injury, are often between the ages of 17 – 24 and are likely to incur substantial health care expenditures over the course of your lifetime.   The decision not to buckle up is clearly associated with costs borne by public agencies supported by our tax revenues.  A 30 percent increase in seat belt use, like that experienced by other states after they passed a primary enforcement seatbelt law, would prevent 2,000-3,000 injuries and save Montanan’s an estimated $20 million in healthcare, taxes and insurance costs.    Primary seat belt laws have a proven track record of increasing a State’s seat belt use rate.  By preventing and reducing debilitating motor vehicle crash injuries that often result in Medicaid eligibility and long-term service provision, the primary seat belt law provides a budget neutral means of directly reducing health care expenditures for the Commonwealth.
Passage of a primary seat belt law would have resulted in the immediate prevention of at least two disabling injuries, traumatic brain injury (TBI) and spinal cord injury (SCI).  Motor vehicle crash victims who suffer these disabling injuries have direct long-term consequences on our Medicaid budget.  Seat belt use is key to maximizing the lifesaving benefits of air bags and to reducing the staggering number of people who are killed, injured and disabled in crashes every year.  The issue of seat belt use remains a major public health and public safety concern. 

Enactment of a primary seatbelt law sends a message to the public that seat belt use is an important safety issue that the State of Montana takes seriously.  The greatest impact lies in legislative requirements for public safety and self-protection. 

Why was the Montana proposed primary seatbelt law not passed?  I invite any legislator come ride along one day with a Great Falls Police Officer and see the direct results of what happens at accident scenes where somebody is not wearing a seatbelt.  During that ride, you will observe the numerous driver’s that do not wear their seatbelt and can wonder, what will happen to them if they get into an accident and are not wearing their safety belt.  An officer in Montana can stop a driver for any one of more than 200 traffic violations that are primary enforcement infractions. The Montana seat belt law is the only traffic violation that is considered “secondary enforcement” whereby an officer must pull you over for another traffic violation first, before enforcing the seat belt law.  The impact this has on the public’s perception of its actual importance is profound.

As a police officer for the State of Montana and a concerned citizen, those who voted against the primary seatbelt law, you dropped the ball on this bill and can hold the financial debt and death associated with non-wearing seatbelt users on your conscience.
Officer Cory Reeves
Great Falls Police Department   
406-771-1180