Is It Really All About Safety? [Fed $$$ and seatbelt laws]

AM 570 KVI News (by way of KOMO 1000 AM News) ^ | May 8, 2003 | Ken Schram

[Eala]

SEATTLE - "It's all about safety."

That's been the Washington State Patrol mantra around the "Click it or Ticket" law.

Of course, now we come to find that writing 3 seatbelt tickets an hour means that troopers can "safely" pocket overtime pay.

The devil, as they say, is in the details.

And the details are in a contract with the State Traffic Safety Commission and law enforcement agencies, including the state patrol.

The contract spells out how federal money is funneled into enforcement of the seat-belt law: write "x" number of tickets and the state gets federal grant money, which in turn can be divvied up as overtime to law enforcement.

"x" in this case is 3; 3 tickets per hour, per trooper.

Naturally, official folks are falling all over their thesauruses trying to come up with another word for "quota."

My favorite so far in "minimal expectation."

I'm hoping someone will eventually use "harmonic proportion."

State patrol officials have said the whole thing seems quite reasonable to them.

I'll bet it does.

I mean, what could POSSIBLY be unreasonable about putting a bounty on unbuckled drivers.

For their own safety, of course.

Want to share your thoughts with Ken Schram? You can e-mail him at kenschram@komo4news.com

[Eala]

I almost hesitate to post a Ken Schram commentary on FR, but of late his columns have been sounding surprisingly conservative.

[TheConservator]

I read about this this morning in my local paper, the Daily Zero. It is absolutely outrageous.

I remember when the seatbelt law was originally proposed. The proponents of it assured the public that it would never be enforced as a separate offense, and that the State would never use it to generate revenues.

What a bunch of crap! But the sheeple swallowed it whole.

[caisson71]

Hawaii recently went through a "Click it or Ticket" campaign. It raised a lot of money.

[lelio]

I almost hesitate to post a Ken Schram
Yep, you got me with the title and then I almost averted my eyes when I saw his name on the byline.
I believe the initial sponsor of this was a gal up in Whidbey Island that had a friend die in a car crash as she wasn't wearing her seat belt.
I'm sorry for her loss, but her (dead) friend was a dolt. You shouldn't create laws because the future Darwin Award winners can't handle reality.
Then there's the chestnut of "If an uninsured rider gets injured, then we all pay." No figures included of course on how much this costs. Course I say pull the plug on em.
For a police officer to write 3 tickets an hour that's $250. Figure they can keep up that mind numbing work (I'm sure they don't want to do it either) for 6 hours a day, and that's about $8k a week.

[X-FID]

Hawaii recently went through a "Click it or Ticket" campaign. It raised a lot of money.

This whole seatbelt thing is nothing but yet another moneymaker for the state and local governments, and they are ALL following in lockstep.

They all start and end up the same way; We won't stop you just for that, but you'll get a warning, next step is; Click it or Ticket. They don't make an attempt to be original because they don't have to anymore, it's turning into follow the leader and it should be cause for alarm.

[just me]

""""We won't stop you just for that, but you'll get a warning""""

Same thing Michigan said...

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[X-FID]

Same thing Michigan said...

That must be the sticking point to get it through the legislature, because they all say it.

[Stay the course]

There's a good reason for the "follow the leader" behavior. The federal government offers states something called "safety incentive grants." They give states hundreds of millions of dollars every year if they pass laws like primary seat belt laws (primary meaning you can be stopped just for that). Most states pass the laws so they won't miss out on the cash.

[Malsua]

Law Enforcement of speeding and seat belts is by and large a money making scheme moreso than a safety issue.

Don't get me wrong, someone going 40 mph over the limit is causing a public safety issue...someone going 20mph over the speed limit isn't when EVERY car on the road is going that fast.

Case in point, I commute to work on 208 through Bergen/Passaic county, NJ. This is one of the most heavily travelled corridors(not this road specifically althoug it's very heavy, the entire area) in the country. Traffic is lock-step. The guy in front of you will most likely be the guy in front of you 10 miles later despite the frantic weaving and lane changes by a few idiots every day.

In the fast lane, every car travels 70-75 or is crawling due to volume.

The speed limit is 55.

Speed isn't the safety issue. Disparity of speed is.

50 in the right lane, 80 in the left is dangerous.

Getting on an on ramp at 30mph, trying to merge into 65mph traffic is dangerous.

Knobs talking on cell phones, arranging lunch dates(weaving about and driving too slow or too slow to react) in heavy traffic is dangerous.

Traffic enforcement as a safety issue is by and large a canard for collecting tax revenue in the guise of a safety issue.

Ask anyone about Conneticut. A state with no state income tax(or at least there wasn't). Likely at least 50% of their highway patrol cars are unmarked. Why? Revenue.

On a recent trip to New Hampshire, a 4 hour drive from Jersey, we saw no cops in Jersey, no cops in New York, one cop in Mass, no cops in Vermont and about 20 in Conneticut. In fact, at one point, we hit a speed trap where it drops from 65 to 55 for 1/4 mile. The driver got a ticket for 82 in a 55, yet I know he wasn't doing more than 75. Speeding, yes. A $279 violation? rofl.

The reason? Income. That's the sole reason Conn has all those unmarked cars. If he was so concerned for safety, why follow us for miles doing 17 over the speed limit(which was definately exxagerated by 5mph, no doubt). No, he waited for the 55 zone and to really score even though there was no real reason for the speed reduction other than likely some political mapping that fell over the road for 1/4 mile.

-Mal

[nightdriver]

"For their own safety, of course."

Oh, of course, of course!!!!

I was pulled over for speeding last year and before the patrol got up to my car, I had unfastened my belt. He gave me a ticket for the unused seatbelt rather than for speeding. Now I know why.

$$$$$

[Fraulein]

Just more government extortion.

And why should I have to give the governmeny money if I am not wearing my seatbelt? I think all seatbelt laws should be scrapped.

[yooper]

The seat belt law is an ass. Should you wear one? Yes.

Should the government require that you wear one? No. Should police have the power to pull you over based on their observance that you're not wearing one? Absolutely not; it's an invasion of privacy.

The seat belt law is one of the most indicitive tests of a person's ability to understand this country and what it's about.

Has anyone ever told you that they support this law? If the answer is yes, you've just met a moron...

[yooper]

Any cops out there; you have a moral responsibility to not enforce this law, if you have an understanding of the Founding Fathers and what they intended for this country.

[F16Fighter]

"This whole seatbelt thing is nothing but yet another moneymaker for the state and local governments, and they are ALL following in lockstep."

Exactly, just as the "overdue inspection sticker" is one more way for wee little oceanfront towns in NJ like Bay Head and Mantoloking to pump up the municipal goodie bag.

[X-FID]

Same with the 55 mph speed limit, it all comes down to Federal funding for something or other. Many things are being Federalized right before our eyes.

[X-FID]

Exactly, just as the "overdue inspection sticker" is one more way for wee little oceanfront towns in NJ like Bay Head and Mantoloking to pump up the municipal goodie bag.

I'm guessing here but, some states require a safety inspection on personal vehicles (like tail lights etc.),Is that what you mean? Because to me that is very intrusive.

[F16Fighter]

Some states (like N.J.) do in fact require yearly or bi-yearly safety inspections on vehicles; However some six-block-long towns merely target the indicators (colored dated windshield stickers) soley for tickets ($123.00) without a courtesy warning -- nothing to do with actual "safety" reminders.

Again, it's just one more petty legal way to increase town revenue by technicality a la 'Macon County Line.'

[TheCrusader]

A great many of our highway "safety" laws are nothing more than a slippery form of taxation. They all sound good at first, in the name of safety; but a closer look reveals them to be a massive source of income for the States, police salaries, and insurance companies. Howie Carr, a Boston Herald reporter and radio talk show host,(and sometime T.V. show guest), stated on his radio program recently that there are 8,000, (yes, EIGHT THOUSAND), different motor vehicle laws in Massachusetts. So the police have 8,000 reasons in their bag of tricks to pull over motor vehicles and ticket them. In Massachusetts you pay your insurance company a premium increase for six consecutive years with each speeding ticket, (as well as a big fine to the State). Do i really need to anything more?

[Bob Mc]

There is also a simple solution to this mess. Allow insurance companies to raise rates or even deny coverage if someone has an accident not wearing their seat belt.

Then there is no need for any Nanny state seat belt law. Let the people decide their own risks and costs.