DENVER-
Convinced that seat belts save lives, lawmakers will try again this week to pass a bill that would allow police to pull over drivers for not wearing them.
Rep. Joe Rice, D-Littleton, said his bill (Senate Bill 181) will help the state save money and an estimated 30 to 50 lives a year in Colorado.
The bill will be heard Tuesday in the House Transportation & Energy Committee.
Rice said the state would be able to spend $14.5 million a year from the federal government on transportation that it now must spend on highway safety projects.
Rice rejected complaints from Republicans that the federal mandate amounts to blackmail, saying the federal government is just balancing the books on the money it has to spend on hospital bills for Medicaid patients injured in car crashes because they weren’t wearing their seat belts.
“It’s not blackmail, that’s where the money comes from,” Rice said.
Rice said the proposed new law also would save the state an estimated $72 million over the next 10 years in medical costs. Under existing law police can ticket motorists and passengers for not wearing seat belts if they pull them over for another violation.
Sen. Ron May, R-Colorado Springs, said state lawmakers have rejected numerous attempts because the government can’t mandate personal safety.
“I don’t think we have a problem. It’s an opportunity for small communities to raise their income from fines. They will set up stops to check them,” May said.
Rice said there is no evidence those problems have come up in other states that have passed similar legislation and no reason to believe that would happen here.
Other bills coming up this week:
— The Senate State, Veterans & Military Affairs Committee will hear a bill on Monday that would ease restrictions on identity documents after lawmakers said current rules were hurting citizens who needed driver’s licenses and other documents. Lawmakers said people should be able to use passports, birth certificates and Social Security cards as identification to get the documents they need. The measure (House Bill 1313) would recognize a passport issued by the United States government, a birth certificate and a Social Security card, a marriage, divorce, or separation certificate or decree, a driver’s license or identification document issued by the United States government, Colorado, or any other state that requires lawful presence, an identity document issued by the Department of Corrections and a Social Security card.
— The House Education Committee will take up a proposal (House Bill 1284) on Thursday that would grant exceptions for a school’s academic performance ratings Colorado student assessment scores of students with individual education plans and students who are absent on the days assessments are administered.
