An
Arizona legislator told The Arizona Star she plans to continue
her campaign for tougher seat belt laws in the state after a fatal
crash this week in the Tucson, AZ, area.
Twenty
states now have what are called primary seat belt laws, under which
police can pull over and ticket drivers solely for not wearing their
seat belts. In other states, the police cannot cite a driver for
a seat belt violation unless the officer pulls the car over for
other reasons.
Sen.
Gabrielle Giffords, D-Tucson, sponsored a bill during this year’s
legislative session that would have toughened Arizona’s seat-belt
law, the newspaper reported. However, the bill did not pass.
The
Bush administration recently proposed an incentive program to encourage
states to increase seat-belt enforcement. Many states would see
millions in extra federal money come there way if Congress agrees
to retain the proposal in the transportation funding reauthorization
bill.
