The state Senate unexpectedly voted in favor of a bill to allow police to stop motorists who are not wearing seat belts. This is an overdue positive step toward reducing motor vehicle fatalities and serious injuries in Maine and should be followed by an affirmative vote in the House. Gov. Baldacci, who unsuccessfully included such a law change in his budget two years ago, said he will sign the bill if it is passed by lawmakers.

Currently, Maine has what is known as a secondary enforcement law, which means although seat belt use is required by law, drivers cannot be stopped for not buckling up. If they are stopped for another violation, such as speeding, and are not wearing a seat belt, they can be given a ticket for this as well. The sponsor of LD 24, Sen. Christine Savage, a Republican from Union, rightly points out is doesn’t make sense that drivers can be pulled over for littering or having a malfunctioning tail light, but not for being unbuckled, a much larger safety concern.

Maine has long been among the worst in the nation when it comes to seat belt use, although it has seen large gains in recent years. Seat belt use averaged 81 percent nationwide and 77 percent in Maine in 2006, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Educating drivers about the importance of seat belt use, coupled with the knowledge that they can be ticketed for not wearing one, will push compliance even higher, likely without police taking time away from other duties to write tickets to unbuckled drivers. States with primary enforcement laws generally have higher usage rates. Mississippi enacted a primary enforcement law last year and seat belt use increased from 61 percent in 2005 to 74 percent in 2006, according to NHTSA.

Car crashes are the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 15 and 35. In fatal car crashes in 1995, only 2 percent of restrained passengers were ejected, compared with 25 percent of unrestrained passengers. Three-quarters of occupants who are ejected from cars are killed. Unbelted drivers and passengers are more than twice as likely as seat belt wearers to suffer a traumatic brain injury. They are nearly twice as likely to require hospitalization as seat belt wearers.

As a result, medical treatment for non-seat belt wearers costs more. A study of 371 motor vehicle trauma patients at Eastern Maine Medical Center between January 1991 and July 1994 found that the average hospital charges for unbelted patients were $9,515 higher than for those wearing seat belts. Unbelted accident victims were nearly twice as likely to be uninsured or covered by Medicaid than those who wear seat belts. That translates into higher medical and insurance costs for everyone.

Opponents of required seat belt use like to say that wearing a seat belt is a choice. But taxpayers aren’t asked whether they would like to help pay for the expensive medical care required by motorists who insist on driving unbelted.

Until Mainers are given that choice, wearing seat belts shouldn’t be optional.