A tragic crash that saw two teens fatally injured near Berthoud last week underscores yet again the need to wear seat belts.
Two bills dealing with seat belts failed to pass this year’s legislative session. We have reservations about one bill, which would have made an unfastened belt a primary offense. Another would have applied to those in vehicles operated by younger drivers.
Shawntae Taylor, 15, a middle school student in Fort Collins, was killed when the car in which she was riding allegedly ran a stop sign and collided with a pickup truck at the intersection of Larimer County Road 4 and Weld County Road 1. Another passenger, Berthoud High junior Kurtis Soeby, 18, died of injuries Saturday, and Brendon McBride, 16, was seriously injured. The car’s unidentified teen driver was treated and released. None of the teens had fastened their seat belts.
Wearing a seat belt is required under Colorado law, but it’s not a primary offense for which officers can stop a vehicle for no other reason than to check.
(Twenty states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have primary seat-belt laws.)
Last year in Colorado, 282 of 502 people killed in cars weren’t buckled up. In Weld County alone, it was 51 of 78. In 2003, the last year for which figures were available, 43 youngsters between the ages of 13 and 18 killed in crashes weren’t buckled up, according to Trooper Eric Wynn of the Colorado State Patrol.
Seat belts reduce the risk of fatal injury by 45 percent for front-seat passengers, but personal freedom often is cited by opponents of stricter enforcement. Of course that freedom comes at a public cost – increased health and car insurance premiums, for example, or medical expenses. “You have to weigh your right to not take one second to fasten your seat belt against what you’re costing everybody else in the state,” said Herman Stockinger, legislative liaison for the Colorado Department of Transportation.
Young people learn by example, and if they see their elders buckle up, they’re more likely to do the same. Their inexperience behind the wheel is reason enough to make sure their belts are fastened.
