Reality check from an RN

As a nurse who sees his share of traumatic injuries, I am still appalled that New Hampshire can't see the wisdom of passing a primary, yes...PRIMARY seat belt law for all drivers in the state.  All the arguments about "illegal search and seizure" are simply smokescreens for those who just don't want to be told what to do by ANYONE. 

The reality of the situation is that we probably spend millions of dollars annually caring for preventable injury to unrestrained drivers and passengers in motor vehicle collisions.  This is in a state who has just sliced medicaid reimbursements to hospitals for care of the uninsured.  Huh?  The cases that I see are often head injuries and traumatic brain injuries that leave the patient either temporarily or permanently incapacitated and/or unable to care for themselves or their families.  Individuals who were healthy, productive, and vibrant members of society were transformed in and instant into permanent burdens on our social services.  Their family's resources are stretched by the loss of a caregiver or income-earning member, and they themselves become another drain on the family.  Why?  Because they chose not to wear seat belts.  Yes, they CHOSE this course of action in the face of convincing evidence that in the vast majority of collisions will prevent or significantly reduce the severity of injury.  When someone makes such a choice, we as a society owe it to them and to ourselves to pass laws to protect them (and in some cases ourselves) from their actions.

As for the debate over whether to have primary or secondary enforcement, I consider a secondary enforcement law to be akin to saying that we won't pull over drunk drivers who are operating in violation of the law until we actually see them cause a collision.  If the state requires seat belt use, and you are operating in violation of that law, you should be penalized.  I also believe that insurance companies should have the right to greatly increase premiums on drivers who have been ticketed for driving without seat belts.

The General Court should start doing their jobs a bit better and start representing the interests of the state as a whole and not just the individuals who wish to retain their right to make bad decisions and have the rest of use foot the bill for the consequences of their actions.