Kansas still isn’t ready for a primary seat-belt law. Maybe it never will be. But lawmakers, led by state Sen. Les Donovan, R-Wichita, at least put some needed teeth in the current seat-belt law this session, giving officers the power to stop and ticket 14- through 17-year-olds who are driving or riding in a car unbelted. After a warnings-only period, a violation could cost a teen $60. The bill also finally stiffens the fine for adults cited for being unbelted in the front seat when the car has been stopped for another violation — to $30 from the current $10. Some will see this as nanny government striking again (and there’s no telling how cops will be able to tell a younger teen from a young adult). But it’s really a case of legislators serving public safety. As Donovan said, “Surely we can save some lives and save Kansas heartache and money.”
Posted by Rhonda Holman
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21 Comments
I can see the ACLU lawsuits flying now, stating that the slink-down gangsta driving style teens are being discriminated against.
EMS types will praise the law as I imagine they are tired of prying teenage bodies who never got a chance at life from ditches and roads and hoods of their cars.
I don’t believe teens should be allowed to drive at all unless a parent is in the car anyway. The min age for driving unsupervised should be 18.
Ahh yes….the old “if it saves ONE life it is worth it” argument.
Scary when legislators start that old saw…if they were REALLY serious about saving all lives, reducing pollution and global warming, ending bank robberies and drive by shootings, they would just ban private owernship of cars.
But, they know the public would never stand for that..so they make token little gestures now and then, claiming they are for ’saving lives’.
Wichita PD patrols around the high schools pretty heavily before school, during lunchtime, and right after school. That’s when teens are most at risk - a car full of friends, and way too much energy. It’s a good time to teach them lessons about safe(r) driving.
When someone gets permanently disabled because of an impulsive or thoughtless action, we all pay for it with our tax dollars. If we can cut down on serious injurys to teens with this law, I say go for it. How is someone’s rights being violated by having to wear a selt belt? Why do we have speed limits and require car seats for children and babies? Because some people don’t have the common sense of a doorknob and we all pay a price for that in the end. Do you have any idea how much it cost to take care of one quad from the time of the injury to their death? It can be millions.
I am not sure about this being the best use of resources, but I say If teenagers have to wear them so should adults. Good for one, good for all. Not needed for one, not needed for all. ANd I am an EMS provider, and I do wear my seatbelt, and if you ride with me, the car does not move until all seatbelts are on. Period. Or get out and walk. My car, my rules
littlejohn, same rules in our household; car doesn’t move until belts buckled. I agree that it (the law) should be for all, not just teens; but the political will isn’t there for uniform coverage right now.
Not an EMS provider; just one who worked four years in a funeral home while in college/first year of law school.
My grandkids always remind me to put mine on. They wouldn’t dream of being in a car and not having their seatbelt fastened…that’s the way to do it, start early and make a lifetime habit out of it. I remember when cars didn’t even have seat belts, and you put the baby in a laundry basket in the back seat. Remember the little car seats that were metal and just hooked over the seat, they had a little steering wheel attached? Not much protection there. We always had the kid next to us in the front seat, or worse, sitting on our lap in the front when someone else was driving!Am I old or what?! It’s amazing any of us survived!
Hey Mary,
My kids do the same thing, they remind me to put mine on everytime I get in the car.
I remember when i was a Teen and learned to drive, my parents smacked me in the head if i dint ware my belt… I got so used to it, i did it like a reaction everytime i got int he car.
Than i got into high school and started giving my friends rides… It became cool not to wear it, therefor i unlearned my reaction to putting it on.
Funny how that works. I think the law is somewhat necessary but personally not sure if it should be put into effect. I have a problem with seatbelt laws and helmet laws for that matter. Its my right to be an idiot and kill myself if i dont wear them. But in this case, since it has to do with minors, i think it should be mandated.
Only problem with the smacks to the head is the irreversable brain damage …
My first note on this is that there is a similar law for kids under the age of 18 to wear a helmet when on a motorcycle, even though adults are not required to do so. Second, driving is a privilege, not a right!! Third, statistically, it is going to be the teenage driver that is going to get into a major car accident, due to their inexperience in driving and their need to look and feel “cool”. So maybe this will save a few of their lives, just not necessarily the lives of those they wreck into.
Anyone ever hear the old saying “thinning of the heard?”
Yes freedomfreak, I think that’s what the Senate Judiciary uses as a method on the Justice Department. :D
note: takes advantage of herd spelled as heard.
“I do wear my seatbelt, and if you ride with me, the car does not move until all seatbelts are on. Period. Or get out and walk. My car, my rules.”
I have the same rule.
I agree Tom, teenagers are at the highest risk because of having others in the car. I myself still have that problem:) I’m a pretty good driver (although I’ll admit a little aggressive) when I’m alone but you throw other people into the car trying to talk to me or somehow distracting me and all bets are off. And although some believe that we should just not allow teenagers to drive, in some locations that is just impractical - I don’t know about the school systems in KS but where I’m from many students live extremely far away from school and the parents are farming/ranching/etc and can’t drive them to school. I also have to agree with whoever said that if it’s enforced for teens it should be for everyone.
I would not care so much if the dumb teenagers just killed themselves and their friends in the car with their stupidity. The problem is that they kill and maim other people and are a danger to all of us. But when I hear another dumb speeding teen ran into a tree- adi os bud!
Mary, you mention passengers with kids in their laps. How about driver parents who let their young sit on their laps and hold the wheel? Kind of distracting when they turn on the windshield wipers, turn off the headlights at night, and stuff like that. But if you want to teach them how to drive well you gotta start em out young. ;)
I did that, my dad let me drive the car when I was only 10. He even got a ticket once for doing it. I learned how to drive long before I was 16, it was great because I had so much experience when I took driver’s ed. Unlike my peers, I was pretty comfortable behind the wheel.
I’m tired of the goverment run our lives..They keep make new laws as we go along..I think when they make new law they have to drop an old law…The United States will be communist before you know it..
This just smacks of more “nanny state regulations”. That will be pushed apon the rest of us. If you really want to stop teenage drivers of causing probelms the solution is to ban teenage driving period.
The problem is that not everyone who gets seriously injured by not wearing a seatbelt dies, if they end up permanently disabled, then they have to live off the taxpayors for the rest of their lives, their medical costs can exceed millions. It’s not fair when that money could be used for those who are disabled through no fault of their own. Personal irresponsibility always effects the lives of others one way or another.