Editorial: Fasten your seat belts
For the last six months, police have warnings to motorists who are not on the use of seat belts, as in the rule of law. Starting today, tickets for those who refuse to buckle. This, despite protests on individual rights and opportunities to save lives and money.
Maine has long been a right derived from the implementation of seat belts. This meant that the use of belt is mandatory, but the driver could not be arrested, because they represent the loop. If they are not over for another violation, such as speeding, they could ticket for not wearing a belt of good.
Maine has long been one of the lowest rates of seat belt use history in the country, in which the legislature in the past year to strengthen the reluctance of the state a right of first application of the law, which means that the driver could not be stopped for a seat belt. For the six months, officers warnings to facilitate the man in the strictest standard. Today, they are also starting to write cards. First-time, you can violate the tickets with a $ 50 increase in fines for subsequent violations.
Autocrashs is the leading cause of death among people aged between 15 and 35 in fatal car breaks down in 1995, only 2% of the passengers were ejected behave, compared to 25 percent of unrestrained passengers. Three-quarters of people who are ejected from cars were killed. Unbelted driver and passengers are more than twice as likely as bearer belt suffer from a skull-brain trauma. They are almost twice as likely to require hospitalization carrying belt.
Consequently, the medical treatment for non-belt holders of costs. A study of 371 trauma patients vehicles in Eastern Maine Medical Center, between January 1991 and July 1994 showed that the average cost for patients in the hospital were unbelted exceed $ 9,515 for which the wearing of seat belts. Unbelted victims were almost twice as many had no insurance or Medicaid, like those of seatbelts. This leads to higher costs for medical care and insurance for everyone.
The Maine Bureau of Highway Safety based on the assumption that the new law, and their implementation, saving 10 lives and prevent serious injuries to 155 per year. Thus, the state taxpayers roughly $ 33 million in medical costs, property damage, lost productivity and costs associated. Reducing medical costs are partly to the fact that the participants in the state of public services of health care, care of Maine, and the unbelted are no longer, and therefore an impact injuries.
According to the Bureau, the use of front seat belts on board has increased by nearly 60 percent in 2003 to almost 80 percent in the past year. The national average is 82 percent. States of law enforcement primary, as a rule, higher than the use belt states.
Drivers have enough time to adjust and monitor, Maine-belt law, so that the sanctions, which begins today, is unlikely to surprise.
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