Seat belt law could soon change in Ohio

COLUMBUS (WJW) — It’s hard to argue that seat belts save lives, and now an Ohio lawmaker is proposing a law, allowing police to pull-over drivers for not wearing one.

Ohio is one of only 15 states, where police have to pull you over for another violation, before handing out a ticket for not buckling up.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has recently been pushing state lawmakers to toughen Ohio’s seat belt laws.  Safety officials say Ohio is in the bottom 10, when it comes to states with seat belt compliance.

Wednesday, State Rep. Jon Cross (R, Findlay) says he plans to introduce a bill this week that he says will save lives. But some say it will restrict personal freedom or just give police another reason to pull over drivers.

“Every time we step into a vehicle, we are taking a risk … the road can be unpredictable, crashes can happen in the blink of an eye and the consequences can be simply devastating,” said Ohio State Highway Patrol Colonel Charles Jones.

“Seat belts are the single most effective means of reducing the risk of death in a crash,” said Rep. Cross.

Cross says by Friday, he will officially introduce the bill that would make “failure to wear a seat belt” for front seat passengers a primary offense. Currently, it is secondary, which means the officer must first stop a driver for another violation.

“You can get pulled over for your taillights, your headlights, your mirrors, the little light on the back of your license plate, but a seatbelt, the single most thing that will save your life, uh, secondary, it doesn’t make sense,” added Cross.

At a news conference in Columbus, Cross and other safety leaders released numbers that show in 2022 about 80% of Ohioans buckled up. Last year, the number rose to nearly 85%. The national average is more than 91%.

They say in 2022, 1,180 people were killed in crashes on Ohio roads, 9th in the nation for fatalities. Of those, 527 people were not wearing seatbelts.

February 2020, a driver survived a horrific crash.

“This 22-year old is going to see another day because he was wearing his seatbelt,” said Steven Bosso, assistant Twinsburg fire chief at the time.

Cross admits his bill may have a tough time making it to the floor for various reasons. Some of the Republicans colleagues worry about restricting personal freedoms.

“That basically works under the assumption that a car crash only affects the person that is hurt,” responded Andy Wilson, Director of the Department of Public Safaty.

Cross says he would consider removing some current primary traffic offenses that don’t reduce safety, in response to people who feel the law is just another reason for police to pull people over.

He says the bill is about safety, displaying a map showing Ohio isolated, surrounded by states with primary offense seatbelt laws.

“We need to think fall in line with our neighboring states and the majority of the country and a lot of good will come from it,” he said.

The proposal would also apply to children not properly fastened in car or booster seats or buckled up. Cross says he has no interest in increasing fines: $30 for the driver and $20 for the passenger.

The Westerville police chief says in the first year, it is estimated that 49 lives could be saved across the state in the first year.

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