Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users
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Mrs. DOLE. Mr. President, America has come a long way since the first State safety belt laws were passed two decades ago. I am speaking today not just as a proponent of reauthorizing the highway bill, but also to express my strong support for provisions in this bill designed to promote primary safety belt laws in the States. These laws help prevent fatalities and crippling, disabling injuries when auto accidents occur.
As many of you know, primary safety belt laws allow police officers to stop and issue citations to motorists they observe who are not buckled up. Secondary safety belt laws, on the other hand, require a motorist be pulled over for another offense before he or she can be issued a ticket for failing to wear a safety belt.
Today, 21 States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have primary belt laws and we know these laws are working. I am proud that in my home State of North Carolina--our home State, Mr. President--which enacted a seatbelt law in 1985, belt use rose to 86 percent in 2004.
Let me review a little history. It was in July 1984, during my first full year as Secretary of Transportation under President Reagan, that we issued rule 208, resulting in the installation of airbags in passenger vehicles and the enactment of safety belt laws across the country. Rule 208 was designed to save as many lives as possible as quickly as possible. It successfully resolved a 17-year dispute that spanned four administrations.
The rule recognized the role of the States in automotive
safety. Not a single State at the time had passed a safety belt law. Usage was at only 13 percent, and airbags were virtually nonexistent. In fact, I remember having to search high and low to find an airbag-equipped car so I could put it on the White House lawn for President Reagan and the Cabinet to go out and examine.
There was very little consumer acceptance at the time. Many folks feared when they crossed the railroad tracks that the airbag would go off. Today, motorists regard automotive safety quite differently. Most of us get in a car and we barely notice that the vehicle has an airbag. And most of us innately fasten our safety belts.
Statistics prove we have made great progress increasing safety belt usage and saving lives on our Nation's roads since those first State safety belt laws were enacted.
Now, over 20 years later, we need to urge more States to take their laws to the next level by enacting primary safety belt laws. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates if all States enacted primary safety belt laws, more than 1,200 deaths and 17,000 injuries would be prevented annually.
I take this opportunity to thank the folks at NHTSA, and especially Administrator Dr. Jeffrey Runge, for their continued hard work and leadership to increase safety belt usage throughout our country. According to NHTSA estimates, in this year alone, 15,000 lives will be saved--15,000--by wearing safety belts. The economic costs associated with belt usage are significant as well. NHTSA estimates safety belt usage saves America $50 billion in medical care, lost productivity, and other injury-related costs. By contrast, fatalities and injuries resulting from not wearing a safety belt generate $26 billion in economic costs annually. These costs include higher taxes and higher health care and insurance costs.
The fact is safety belts reduce the risk of death in a severe crash by 50 percent. We must urge folks to use their safety belts. Increased usage rates and primary belt laws have a proven track record of doing just that.
With this legislation, States that chose to adopt primary safety belt laws would receive a one-time grant equal to 500 percent of the highway safety money they received in 2003. States that already have primary safety belt laws would receive 250 percent of the 2003 level in highway safety money. At the end of the bill's reauthorization in 2009, any leftover safety funds will be distributed to States that have enacted primary belt laws.
With this increased funding, States can spend more on highway safety improvements and make our roads even safer. NHTSA Administrator Runge best described the importance of safety belt usage in April of this year, when he told the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee:
Unlike a number of complex issues facing the Nation today, we have at least one highly effective and simple remedy to combat highway deaths and fatalities. Wearing safety belts is the single most effective step individuals can take to save their lives. Buckling up is not a complex vaccine, doesn't have unwanted side effects, and doesn't cost any money. It is simple, it works, and it is lifesaving.
I could not agree more. After two successful decades of State-implemented belt laws, it is now time for this Nation to further improve safety on our Nation's roads. We have accomplished many things to advance automobile and road safety over the last 20 years, and now we must act on this opportunity to do even more.
I ask unanimous consent that NHTSA Administrator Runge's letter to me on this matter be printed in the RECORD, and I yield the floor.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in the RECORD, as follows:
U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,
Washington, DC, May 11, 2005.
Hon. ELIZABETH DOLE,
U.S. Senate, Washington, DC.
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