Senate revision of seat belt bill to go to House

AUGUSTA – Supporters of a bill to make it easier for police to ticket a person for not wearing a seat belt amended the measure by a vote of 21-13 in the Senate on Wednesday after the original legislation had been narrowly defeated in the House last month.

Opponents say the change could make the difference when the House next considers the bill.

“This adds two provisions to my original bill,” said Sen. Christine Savage, R-Union. “It addresses concerns I have heard.”

The first is aimed at objections to the measure raised earlier in the House debate by Rep. Richard Cebra, R-Naples, who warned that the bill could lead to “racial profiling” by allowing police to stop anyone on the pretext of a seat belt violation.

Rep. Jon Hinck, D-Portland, also opposed the measure last month as an unacceptable infringement on individual liberties and argued current traffic laws give too much power to police.

“This [amendment] adds the sentence that the contents of a vehicle, the driver of or a passenger in a vehicle may not be inspected or searched solely because of a violation of this subsection,” Savage said.

The second section of her amendment would not allow a ticket for violating the new law to be issued until April 1, 2008, providing a “grace period” when only warnings could be issued by police to those who do not buckle up.

“I know of a member or two who is going to change their vote because of that amendment,” said Rep. Douglas Thomas, R-Ripley, an opponent of the bill. “I am not going to change my vote. I think it is still an infringement of our freedoms, and I trust the people of the state of Maine to know whether they want to buckle their seat belts or not.”

The House rejected the bill last month, 70-67, with 14 members absent, so only a change of a few votes or a different makeup of those present to vote could result in passage of the bill. Thomas said the seat belt issue has “always been close” in the House and he expects the measure will be decided by a few votes.

Current law is called secondary enforcement, in which a person can be ticketed only if a police officer is stopping the driver for another offense.

Under the proposed bill, if an officer sees someone driving without a seat belt, he would be able to pull the driver over and write a ticket. That is called primary enforcement and is the substance of Savage’s bill.

Sen. Bruce Bryant, D-Dixfield, opposed the measure, even with the amendment. He argued the secondary enforcement law Maine has today is working fine and should not be changed.

“I think the current law that we put into place about four or five years ago was a good compromise that allows people to make their own decisions, but it also encourages people to use their seat belts,” he said.

That brought a sharp response from Sen. Joseph Brannigan, D-Portland, the sponsor of the original seat belt law 20 years ago when he served in the House.

“I would like to remind people that the present law does not allow people to make a choice,” he said. “It is a law that must be followed just like any other law, so there is no choice.”

The bill has bipartisan support and opposition in both the House and Senate. The Legislature will not meet in session again until April 24. Under legislative procedures, the proposal could face several more votes in both the House and Senate before the issue is finally resolved.