The increased risk runs counter to the goals of Vision Zero, North Dakota's multi-agency effort to eliminate fatalities and serious injuries caused by motor vehicle crashes. The 98 fatalities from motor vehicle crashes in North Dakota recorded in 2022 was the lowest annual total in 20 years, yet much work remains to improve seat belt usage in our state. In 2022, approximately 2 out of 3 fatalities were unbelted where seat belts were present in the vehicle.
Compared with secondary enforcement laws, primary seat belt laws have been associated with a 10% to 12% higher observed seat belt use rate according to 2019 data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
A primary seat belt law is a reasonable and responsible means of mitigating the increased risk of a higher speed limit. In the absence of a primary seat belt law, I am unable to support the heightened risk of an increased speed limit on interstates.
The thing is that people are already going 80-85 with the 75 mph speed limit. This would bring speed limits to meet what traffic is already doing. And to try to hinge this limit on a primary seatbelt enforcement for minimal gain in usage is nonsense.
If I were super cynical, I'd say the governor wants to transfer the semi-pretextual stops for speeding (since most cars will be "speeding", the police can be selective on whom they enforce the law) to seatbelts (most police cannot see into a car and see if someone is buckled up except at slow speeds, and they can selectively pull over someone whom they "suspect" of not wearing a seatbelt and then find the suspicion to search the car).
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Topic: North Dakota (Read 14058 times)