CabinWindow: Safety Supporting new law

Tuesday was either a good day for common sense and safety or it was a day of more government intrusion. Depending on your perspective, you probably look at the state's new seat belt law in one of those two ways.

Until this week, not wearing a seat belt as adults, we mean was against the law, but police officers couldn't pull over a driver for that secondary offense. No, there had to be some sort of primary offense speeding, crossing a center line, whatever that would allow for a traffic stop. Not wearing a seat belt was then an offense the officer could tack onto the ticket. Now, though, not wearing a seat belt is a primary offense, and any law enforcement agent who observes someone not wearing a seat belt can stop that vehicle and cite the offenders.

It's a good law, in theory, even if the practice might be a bit squishy. We mean, how difficult is it to tell for sure if someone is or isn't wearing a seat belt (especially one that might blend in with their clothing) as a vehicle whizzes by? And, not to point a finger at anyone, but ... we're protective of the Fourth Amendment around here, and we hope over-zealous law enforcement agents don't use the "I thought he wasn't wearing a seat belt" bit as an excuse to stop every vehicle that looks suspicious.

That little concern aside, we support efforts to increase the number of people wearing seat belts. We know they save lives, and we know they prevent injuries.

In many ways, our vehicles have gotten safer over the years. Air bags. Improved seat belts. Safety glass. Many revolutionary parts and systems make vehicles safer than they were back in the day of two-ton behemoths rambling down the road.

But no vehicle is completely safe. We fly around at dangerous speeds, and not just on our interstate system. Mix in the ways that many among us talk on cell phones or whatever while they drive, and the dangers are obvious.

Crashes at 30 miles an hour can demolish vehicles. Stay in the media business long, and you'll have a long list of crash scenes from which to draw anecdotal tales.

Like the head-on collision on a city street that killed one of the drivers. It was our first occasion to cover a fatal crash. Stumbling upon the lifeless body in the weeds was an eye-opener. He wasn't wearing a seat belt and had been thrown through the windshield.

Or the three men who died when their vehicle veered off the highway and struck a tree. None of them were wearing seatbelts, and each of them banged their head against something hard.

Or the spate of child deaths four in a month that led to a major child safety seat push in the region, too late for those four toddlers.

If our primary seat belt law prompts even a few Arkansans to buckle up, we're all for it. We hope everyone uses seat belts for themselves and all those who travel with them.

Once we've beaten that problem, then we can figure out what to do about those folks who want to ride motorcycles without wearing a helmet.