Not as in love with MA as before...

There were 8 people killed this weekend in 4 different accidents on the 4th of July. The reason? Alcohol and NO SEAT BELTS!!! A few weeks ago Adam and I were going to IKEA and we witnessed the clean up of an accident where a child was killed...she was ejected from a car because she was not wearing a seat belt!!! Adam has commented quite often that people who he works with do not wear seat belts and now I know why.

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts does not have a mandatory seat belt law. I am annoyed, disgusted, and ashamed to be living in a state with this type of ignorance!!! We are progressive enough to allow anyone to marry, regardless of sexual orientation (Makes me proud!!!), but we do not require people to wear a seat belt?!(Makes me angry!!!)

Here's how it works:(quoted from the following website)

"The law in Massachusetts mandates that everyone wear seat belts, but drivers must be stopped for another offense before police can enforce the seat-belt law. Statehouse lawmakers refuse, year after year, to pass a primary seat-belt law, which would allow police to enforce the law without the need for another offense."

So they do encourage, even go as far as to say "require" but check this out....you can only be fined $25 and you can't be pulled over strictly for no belt...you must be pulled over for something like speeding, running a red light, etc. Here's how it reads from www.mass.gov:

Chapter 90: Section 13A. Seat belt use required; exemptions; penalty

"Any person who operates a motor vehicle without a safety belt, and any person sixteen years of age or over who rides as a passenger in a motor vehicle without wearing a safety belt in violation of this section, shall be subject to a fine of twenty-five dollars. Any operator of a motor vehicle shall be subject to an additional fine of twenty-five dollars for each person under the age of sixteen and no younger than twelve who is a passenger in said motor vehicle and not wearing a safety belt. The provisions of this section shall be enforced by law enforcement agencies only when an operator of a motor vehicle has been stopped for a violation of the motor vehicle laws or some other offense."

I'm sorry, I just can't wrap my head around this! Last year there were 363 fatal traffic accidents in MA and 208 of those killed were not wearing a restraint/seat belt. That's about 60%, and no one seems to think this warrants a real conversation about changing the laws! In a vote three years ago the State Senate passed a mandatory restraint law but the House failed it, and it hasn't come back up since.

I think it's time.