Who Needs Seatbelts Anyways - Not New Hampshire

Via Union Leader -

Concord – The mandatory seatbelt bill hit a bump in the road when the Senate Transportation and Interstate Committee voted to recommend the bill be killed.

The committee voted 3-2 on the recommendation and the full Senate is scheduled to vote on the bill May 31.

On Wednesday, committee chairman Sen. Robert Letourneau, R-Derry, voted to recommend killing the bill, joined by Sens. Bob Clegg, R-Hudson, and Betsi DeVries, D-Manchester. Committee vice chairman Sen. Peter Burling, D-Cornish, and Sen. Molly Kelly, D-Keene, opposed the recommendation.

The bill, HB 802, passed the House last month by 13 votes. New Hampshire is the last state in the country without a mandatory seatbelt law, although restraints are required for children and teenagers.

...

Clegg said after the committee vote, "I don't think we should ever fear punishment as a reason to do anything. Government shouldn't be something everybody is afraid of. If seatbelts are a good idea, then we ought to educate people so they'll use them."

He said he does not use a seat belt when he drives his truck, and is not convinced that seatbelts provide a fail-safe remedy to highway deaths.

"My son once slid sideways on the ice and ended up with a branch through the door of his car. If he'd been wearing a seatbelt, it would've skewered him. Instead, the branch pushed him to the other side of the car," Clegg said. "So no, I choose not to buckle, and I think it's baloney that the government would tell me that I have to, or else."

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Advocates of the bill include emergency room nurses and a doctor, safety and transportation officials, the New Hampshire Medical Society and the National Transportation Safety Board.

The state would receive a $3.7 million federal grant if the bill passes.

Supporters of the bill say with its voluntary approach, New Hampshire lags the rest of the nation in seat belt use. The bill would raise usage among all drivers and save the state $48 million in medical costs, they say.

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Is Bob Clegg serious? Really?