THE SAFETY CHOICE COALITION

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and take a look at what
happens to real cars in
real fatal accidents

Seatbelts have been killing people for more than thirty years. Read some of their stories.

If you still think seatbelts
are a good idea you need
to read our report

Read published accounts
of what seatbelts do to
real people in real accidents

Read what other people
think of mandatory
seatbelt laws

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This site is dedicated to the memory of Commander John C. Waldron and the men of Torpedo Squadron 8, and to all others who gave their lives to preserve that liberty which some are now trying to take away from us.
"We here highly resolve that these honored dead shall not have died in vain".

This web-site was last updated on December 1, 2008.

From KIRO radio in Boise Idaho, December 1, 2008. KIRO radio reports that a woman "lost control of her car" and smashed into a tree. The car was so badly crushed it took the paramedics two hours to extract the woman's body, according to KIRO radio.

FROM YAHOO AND AP, November 27, 2008. www.yahoo.com "SUV plunges off Colorado highway, killing 7". We quote from the article in case it has been removed by the time you see this. We trust Yahoo and AP will forgive us. "Johnstown, Colorado - An SUV plunged off an overpass and hit a concrete embankment in a fiery crash Thursday morning, killing all seven people inside it......'Not only is the SUV burned, it has a lot of crushed deformation from hitting the concrete' (Colorado State Trooper Gilbert) Mares said". Think about this. Those who were not killed instantly as a result of being crushed to death were burned alive.
Seatbelts, anyone? Dummy tests anyone? Welcome to the real world, senator Murray.

Rollover accident in France, November 8, 2008:

Driver killed. Head bashed in by collapsing roof. Seatbelt made it impossible for him to evade the blow. We have so many of these pictures now that this is deja vu, but we need to keep reminding people until the seatbelt laws are repealed. (France2 TV screen shot).

LUNACY MARCHES ON: On October 15, 2008, the Secretary of Transportation, Ms. Mary Peters, announced that the government would be requiring seatbelts on small school buses. (see www.dot.gov). Apparently, the reason that Ms. Peters made this announcement rather than the head of NHTSA, is that the former head of NHTSA, Nicole Nason, has left, and the agency now has an acting head (see below). The new rule was issued in the form of a 152 page report (available on the dot web site) which makes fascinating reading, if you have a strong stomach. It is rather as if the government had issued a 152 page report gravely considering the question of how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.
    The report is a combination political/bureaucratic document most of which is dedicated to a discussion of the various "comments" which were received during the "comment period" leading up to the "rule making".    The respect accorded to the various commentators varied in proportion to their political importance. The discussion is mainly an effort at self-justification by DOT (i.e., by Mary Peters) to justify the action which they have taken in light of the comments which they have received from various politically important groups (or groups which they consider to be politically important). Needless to say, none of these groups have any technical expertese or are in any way qualified to discuss the matter. There were groups of local school officials concerned about the expense, mothers of school children, self-appointed "safety" vigilantes, and so on. In fact, the usual cast of characters.
    In this connection it is worth pointing out that the issue of putting seatbelts on school buses has been considered, and rejected, by almost every state legislature in the country, even in states normally supportive of seatbelt laws.
    Since Ms. Peters, like Ms. Nason, is a lawyer with no professional expertise in the field of automotive safety, extensive reference to legal documents, as opposed to technical documents, is made in the report. Of course Ms. Peters is in a difficult position since she is sworn to uphold the law, and in this case the law, 23 USC 402, 405 and 406, as well as the FMVSS contained in CFR 49, is the most absurd nonsense. So she is trying to reconcile the the legal requirements and political pressures to which she is being subjected.
    We have to consider the possibility that some of the groups commenting on the proposed rule were not, in fact, what they claimed to be, but fronts put up to it by the seatbelt industry or the misguided insurance industry. We have no proof of this, but the whole history of government involvement in seatbelts, airbags and booster seats is one that is so shot through with lies, fraud, deceit and corruption that one cannot rule it out.

NICOLE NASON OUT. On October 8, 2008, the Bush administration announced that Nicole Nason was leaving her post as NHTSA administrator and that her chief of staff, David Kelly, would become acting director. Mr. Kelly was formerly the director of the "Seatbelt and Airbag Campaign of the National Safety Council" which was created, funded, and run by NHTSA. In promoting the seatbelt and airbag scams, the SAC-NSC used tactics that went beyond what even NHTSA was willing to use, which may be why they were created.
Ms Nason is remembered by reporters mainly for instituting a rule that no one at the agency could speak to the press except herself. She was a shrewd operator who got the hell out while the getting was good.

Automobile seatbelts, air bags and booster seats are crackpot inventions thought up by amateurs who didn't know what they were doing.

This is what happens to real cars in real fatal collisions

seatbelts, anyone?

According to the FARS data base, 90% of all cars involved in fatal accidents are "severely crushed". This information is in the public domain and can easily be verified by applying an SAS filter to the data. The FARS data base is the official United States Government record of all fatal accidents which have taken place in this country since l975.

In addition, another car went into a pond on May 11, three occupants, only one got out. The others almost certainly trapped by their seatbelts, as we have seen so often before.

Polar bear declared endangered species (AP news item, May 15). The price of oil is going up, billions of barrels lie untapped in Alaska, and now our government has given their answer: declare the polar bear an endangered species.

Solar energy is nonsense. Wind power is nonsense. The only way this country can meet its energy needs without polluting the air is with dams and nuclear power plants.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE:

SEATBELT MONEY: Patty Murray's transportation subcommittee of the United States senate appropriations comittee has reported out S. 3261, the appropriation bill for the U.S. Department of Transportation for fiscal 2009. This bill contains the following provisions:

Just to refresh your memory, grants under 23 USC 402 must be spent on a program approved by the Secretary of Transportation which includes measures "to encourage the proper use of occupant protection devices (including safety belts and child restraint systems) by occupants of motor vehicles".
To qualify for "occupant protection incentive grants" under 23 USC 405, a state must meet four of six criterea, which include: primary seatbelt law, high visibility enforcement (of seatbelt laws), mandatory booster seat laws, booster seat "education" programs, and minimum penalty points for violation of seatbelt laws. (It also used to include a provision "to educate the public about the benefits of air bags", but they took that out).
To qualify for "safety belt performance grants" under 23 USC 406, a state must meet one of two criterea: primary seatbelt law or a seatbelt use rate of 85% in the preceding two years. (Note: this explains why seatbelt enforcement in states with secondary seatbelt laws is often more draconian than in states with primary laws. If they don't meet the 85% use rate as the end of the year approaches, the police tend to get hysterical because they stand to lose millions of dollars).
To qualify for grants under section 2011(a)(11) of P.L. 109-59, a state must raise the maximum age at which booster seats are required from 5 to 7 years.

If Patty Murray's seatbelt money passes again this year, it is likely that the seatbelt scammers (NHTSA's nationwide lobbying machine) will be up to their old tricks again next year, to promote the seatbelt scam - the lies, the bribes, the false witnesses, the phony front organizations, the fake videos, the false stories planted in the media, the phony demonstrations, perjury and subornation of perjury, and all the rest of their bag of tricks. No doubt they will act "agressively" and "with zeal", to quote from Patty Murray's instructions.

Comment: It seems strange that a government which is spending hundreds of billions of dollars to protect us from "terrorists" is at the same time spending hundreds of millions to force us to do something which has killed more people than all the world's terrorists put together.

Patty Murray Biography: We have been looking into the biography of senator Patty Murray, one of the chief advocates of seatbelt coercion in the United States Senate. According to her biography, as published by the United States House of Representatives, Office of History and Preservation, "Women in Congress 1917-2006" (U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 2006) she received a B.A. from Washington State University in l972, but her major field is not specified. Apparently, the only paid employment experience she has ever had outside of politics was as an instructor at Shoreline Community College from 1984 to 1987, but it does not say in what field, nor does it explain how a someone with only a bachelor's degree could teach at a college, nor does it say if the job was full time or part time. Wikepedia gives her profession as "teacher", but the only other educational experience listed in her biography is "education volunteer" from 1977 to 1984. It seems to us that this does not qualify her as an expert on automotive safety.

Legislative update: At the end of the main legislative season of the year, we find that the seatbelt scammers have scored four victories this year: they have gotten Anton's law adopted in three states and gotten the booster seat fine raised in one. Supposedly, Anton's law is the work of a single woman, but on the face of it, it seems unlikely. We would simply point out that if the booster seat manufacturers can get this law enacted in every state, they stand to sell another ten million booster seats.
    We are up against a nationwide organization of professional con artists, hired by NHTSA to promote the seatbelt scam, with more than $150 million dollars in bribes to offer the states to pass these laws (all of it funded by money taken out of your paycheck).
    Please note that we do not update every state every day so the information below is the latest we have. If you see any Orwellian laws being considered in your state, please let us know.
    States shown in brown have primary seatbelt laws. States shown in red have secondary seatbelt laws (except New Hampshire). It is the red states that we need to keep an eye on because the seatbelt scammers are likely to go after one or more of these states, in line with senator Patty Murray's orders that they must not rest until every state has a primary seatbelt law.

New Hampshire: The New Hampshire state legislature has adjourned without considering any new seatbelt, booster seat or helmet laws. They did amend an existing law requiring riders and operators of snowmobiles and ORVs under 18 to wear goggles and helmets by adding that the goggles and helmets had to conform to FMVSS 218. (See comment on FMVSS under Massachusetts, below. To read FMVSS 218, click on the link).

Wyoming: The Wyoming state legislature adjourned on March 7, 2008 without considering any bills on seatbelts, booster seats or helmets.

Massachusetts: The Massachusetts state legislature passed, and the governor signed, Anton's law on April 11, 2008. The law requires children up to eight years of age to be strapped into a death-trap seat conforming to 49 CFR 571.213. The penalty for violators is $25. We wonder how many of the legislators who voted for this bill, or the governor, actually read and understood 49 CFR 571.213, or consulted any independent experts to explain it to them. Given that MIT is just a short ride on the MTA from the State House, there really is no excuse for them not to have done so. Most people seem to have this idea that the Code of Federal Regulations is holy writ. The truth is that 49 CFR 571.213 is nonsensical gibberish.
(The link will take you to all of FMVSS. Don't be snowed. Bureaucrats are very good at writing regulations so you won't understand them. This is supposed to make you think they are these great experts and the reason you don't understand it is that you are too stupid and ignorant. Also, they make them so long and complicated that you won't even bother to read it all, never mind try to understand it. All this is part of the bureaucrats' strategy for survival. Much of FMVSS is based on the misconceptions and delusions of Ralph Nader and Joan Claybrook, as sold to Patty Murray and other members of congress. The bureaucrats are caught between a rock and hard place: They must obey the orders of their masters in congress, even though the engineers know that it's nonsense. This is their way of dealing with it.)

Louisiana: TheLouisiana state legislature has adjourned without passing SB 673, the motorcycle helmet bill. Way to go, Louisiana ABATE!
    HB 814 has been signed by the governor. HB 814 passed state senate by a vote of 37 to 0. The senate transportation committee recommended passage of HB 814 on June 2, 2008. HB 814 would increase the penalty for failing to strap a child into a death-trap seat to $100 for the first offence and to $250 to $500 for the second. It would also suspend the license of the driver for the first offense, and all subsequent offenses, if reinstated.
    We watched the committee hearing on this bill and it was really very interesting. There was only one witness for the bill - representative Templet, the sponsor of the bill. Templet cited no evidence in support of his bill other than the usual ejection story. There was one other person at the witness table who stated that he was the official in Louisiana who was charged with keeping track of how many people were using seatbelts. However, he gave no testimony other than reading a list of booster seat fines in other states.
    In Lousiana the custom is for the sponsors of a House passed bill to testify for it before the senate committee. Thus this was not the usual seatbelt scammer show. What was interesting about this hearing was that no one questioned the merits of strapping a child into a booster seat. Nor did anyone question that violators should be severely punished for failing to do so. This was taken as a given and the debate went on from there. The only points of contention were the degree of deterrent of various penalties. The "debate" was mainly a discussion between Mr. Templet and the chairman, sen. McPherson. Few if any other members contributed. When the chairman said, "without objection the bill is passed", no one objected. There was no vote.
    This bill was passed unanimously by the Louisiana House on April 28, 2008 and sent to the senate. Assigned to senate transportation committee, 4/29/08. We now see the reason for the license suspension provision. Under Louisiana law, if your license is suspended, it will cost you $110 to get it reinstated. Thus, under the provisions of this bill, the penalty would be a minimum of $210 per ticket, not $100 as stated in the bill. According to the fiscal impact statement, this money would go to "local government entities".
    The fiscal impact statement for this bill makes very interesting reading. The first version asserted that there would be no fiscal impact. Then they came out with a revised version which asserted that if passage of this bill delayed the implementation of the so-called "Next generation motor vehicle project" it could cost the state $500,000 a month. It seems that the "Next generation motor vehicle project" or NGMVP, is a new computer system which speeds up the collection of fines and "accepts various forms of payment". Then they came out with a third revised version which stated that actually, with the passage of this bill, the state could collect all kinds of additional fines and fees, over and above those provided for in the bill. None of these fiscal impact statements as yet make any mention of how much NHTSA is going to pay Louisiana if they pass this bill. We find it very hard to believe that this bill was introduced and passed by the House without any incentives from NHTSA. So we are now waiting for version number four of this fiscal impact statement.

The motorcycle helmet law, on the other hand, has been placed on hold after second reading. SB 673, the motorcycle helmet law, passed second reading and then was returned to the calendar, subject to call. Introduced 4/2/08. Louisiana ABATE is on top of this.

South Carolina: The South Carolina state legislature has adjourned sine die without considering H 4322. H 4322 would have restricted the use of all-terrain vehicles by persons under 16 and would have required all users to wear eye protection and helmets. Sent to House committee on agriculture, natural resources and environment, 1/08/08.

Illinois: The Illinois state legislature has adjourned without considering HB 4413. HB 4413 would have required seatbelts on school buses. Introduced 1/11/08 and sent to rules committee. Only one sponsor.

Vermont: The Vermont state legislature adjourned on May 3, 2008 without considering any bills on seatbelts or helmets. This is the first time in five years that no primary seatbelt bill was introduced in Vermont.

Oklahoma: The Oklahoma state legislature adjourned sine die on May 23, 2008. SB 1169 died in committee, as did the Anton's law bills, SB 1568 and HB 2456. SB 1169 would have increased the fine for not wearing a seatbelt. Bills like this are double revenue raisers because NHTSA awards grants to states which raise the seatbelt fines. A state like Oklahoma stands to get around $2,000,000 (or more) of your tax money for passing this bill, in addition to collecting the increased fines. Introduced 2/4/08 and sent to the rules committee on 2/5/08. SB 1568 was introduced on 2/4/08 and sent to the appropriations committee on 2/12/08. A similar bill last year died in committee.

Missouri: The Missouri state legislature has adjourned sine die without taking up SB 884.
SB 884 would have made the Missouri seatbelt law primary. On 3/05/08, the transportation committee of the Missouri state senate voted to pass SB 884. Based on information contained in the fiscal impact statement for this bill, NHTSA offered Missouri a bribe of $19.7 million dollars of your tax money to pass this bill. Of this, $16.2 million was a "safety belt performance grant" under 23 USC 406, and $3.5 million an "occupant protection incentive grant" under 23 USC 405. It is clear now that Missouri was this year's target state.
Two years ago a similar bill was defeated by a margin of 2 to 1 in the Missouri House. Last year a similar bill was introduced and sent to the House transportation committee but was not taken up by the full House.

Kansas: The Kansas state legislature adjourned sine die on May 29, 2008. No new bills on seatbelts, booster seats or helmets were considered. Last year all attempts to make the Kansas seatbelt law primary failed. The seatbelt scammers did succeed, however, in raising the seatbelt fine from $10 to $60, effective January 1, 2008, by slipping the provision into another bill, SB 8, concerning motor vehicle regulations.

Wisconsin: The Wisconsin state legislature adjourned on May 28, 2008, without passing any bills on seatbelts, booster seats or helmets. Last year, AB 113 and SB 120, which would have made the Wisconsin seatbelt law primary, died in committee. The Anton's Law bill, AB 558, was defeated by the Wisconsin state senate on 3/21/08.

Maine: The Maine state legislature adjourned on April 18, 2008 without passing any new seatbelt laws. Given the fact that the governor and legislature of Maine last year passed one of the most draconian primary seatbelt laws in the nation, with penalties of up to $500, over the vociferous objections of the people of Maine, judging by the unprecedented outpouring of letters to the editor published in the Maine newspapers, it is, perhaps, not surprising that they have decided not to push their luck, especially with an election coming up in November.
Those of you who follow this website may recall that the primary seatbelt bill, LD 24, was defeated and the legislature was about to adjourn, when three senators suddenly decided to change their votes, without explanation, and the bill was passed at the last minute.

Michigan: SB 0082: The seatbelt scammers managed to get Anton's law enacted in Michigan by slipping it in as an amendment to 1949 PA 300. The governor of Michigan signed this bill on April 15, 2008. On the face of it, the bill makes no sense. You can read it yourself . http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2007-2008/publicact/pdf/2008-PA-0043.pdf. Actually, what this bill does is to rewrite section 710e of Michigan 1999 PA 29, so some of it was there before, but it adds new sections, the main one being Anton's law.
Somewhat more encouragingly, HB 5794 would have removed the motorcycle helmet requirement. However, this bill remains tied up in committee.

New Mexico: Legislature convened on January 15, 2008, and adjourned on February 14, 2008. No new bills on seatbelts, booster seats or helmets were introduced or considered.

Alabama: The Alabama state legislature adjourned on May 19, 2008 without passing HB 47, HB 299, or SB 229. HB 47 was "postponed indefinitely in the House of origin" . HB 47 would extend the seatbelt requirement to back seat passengers. The fine for violation would be $50 of which $30 is to go to the police. Approved by Public Safety Committee,2/14/08.

SB 229 would have pohibited smoking in any public or work place. Sent to senate education committee, 2/05/08. Education committee reported out a substitute on 2/28/08 which is so long, convoluted and complicated it is hard to see how it can ever be enforced. Vote was 7 to 1 in favor. The senate passed SB 229 on 4/30/08 by a vote of 28 to 3 with 4 voting "present". The House government operations committee reported out a substitute on 5/07/08 which is no less draconian. This passed second reading in the House on 5/08/08. The politicians cannot resist the sheer, heady thrill that comes from interfering in other people's lives. What people do not understand is that the only parts of our liberty and property they will let us keep are the parts we are willing to fight for. If we do not fight back, they will take it all.

HB 299 came up for third reading in the House on 4/15/08. The members desperately did not want to vote on this bill. After some hemming and hawing, an amendment was offered to delete the provision requiring children on tricycles to wear helmets. This amendment passed by a vote of 85 to 1. Further consideration of the bill was then "carried over temporarily" (i.e., postponed indefinitely) by voice vote (i.e., how each member voted was not recorded). HB 299 would require helmets for those under 16 years of age riding bicycles, tricycles, ATV's or scooters, and would require any passenger weighing less than forty pounds to be strapped into a booster seat on any of the said vehicles. The bill also requires police officers to counsel, lecture and educate violators about the benefits of these requirements. Approved by Public Safety Committee, 2/14/08.

Colorado: The Colorado state legislature has adjourned without considering any seatbelt, booster seat or helmet bills. None were introduced during the 2008 session. Very similar to Utah. Seatbelt bills defeated on a tie vote in 2006 after a long and bitter fight, and again in 2007, but this time by a wider margin. So far, however, legislators in Colorado have shown no interest in going through this debate yet once again.

Minnesota: The Minnesota state legislature has adjourned without passing any new seatbelt or helmet laws. We had a warning from a Minnesotan that someone was trying to sneak a primary seatbelt law into their omnibus transportation bill. We couldn't find one in HF 1351 which the governor vetoed. The legislature tried again with HF 3800. We couldn't find a seatbelt law in that one either, but the House and senate versions were different and the bill went to conference. The conference committee then issued their report: "delete everything".
Last year, a bill was introduced which would have required seatbelts for children in shopping carts. This bill was sent to the commerce and labor committee and never heard from again.

Tennessee: The Tennessee state legislature adjourned on May 21, 2008, without passing any new seatbelt or helmet laws. Seven school bus seatbelt bills were introduced in 2007. All died in committee. None were introduced in 2008. HB 3193 and SB 3585 would have required minors to wear helmets on off road vehicles. Died in committee on 4/1/08 and 4/2/08. SB 1511 and HB 1283 would have repealed the motorcycle helmet law. SB 1511 passed the senate on 4/9/07 by a vote of 19 to 11 but died in the House. HB 1283 was reintroduced in 2008 but died in committee on 5/14/08.

Connecticut: The Connecticut state legislature has adjourned without passing any new bills relating specifically to seatbelts, booster seats or helmets. They did make Connecticut's long and convoluted motor vehicle code even longer and more convoluted by passing HB 5748, which adds separate provisions for drivers under 18 to almost every section.

New Jersey: The senate transportation committee met on May 8, 2008, but neither A870 nor A1033 was on the agenda. A870 was received by the senate on 2/14/08 and assigned to the transportation commitee. However, it does not yet appear on the committee's schedule. A870 was passed by the Assembly on February 7, 2008, by a vote of 62 to 13 with one abstention. Assembly bill A870 was sponsored by Nelson T. Albano, who also sits on the transportation committee, and his colleague from Cape May, Matthew W. Milan. A870 would extend the seatbelt requirement to adults riding in the back seat. The same bill was introduced last year by Mr. Albano and never even made it out of committee. It would be interesting to know what accounts for the remarkable turnaround in the fortunes of this bill.
Considering that governor Corzine, who was sitting in the front seat, was almost killed by his seatbelt, while the people in the back seat, who were not wearing seatbelts, were able to walk away, it would be hard to beat this bill for sheer gall.
Unlike some states, New Jersey does not publish a financial impact statement for proposed legislation so we don't how much NHTSA offered New Jersey to pass this bill. In view of the fact that last year this bill didn't even make it out of committee while this year it was passed unanimously, we can only speculate NHTSA must have raised its offer by a substantial amount.

We listened to the meeting of the transportation committee at which this bill was recommended for passage. There was only one witness for the bill, a Mr. Margarita who said he was from the New Jersey Safety Council. Mr. Margarita stated that the New Jersey Safety Council was a branch of the National Safety Council. We know, of course, that the so-called "Seatbelt and Airbag Campaign of the National Safety Council" is funded and controlled by NHTSA. Mr. Margarita's testimony was the same old combination of false, misleading, emotional and irrelevant statements that we have heard so often before. The impression Mr. Margarita made was of an actor giving a performance. Mr Albano, the sponsor of the bill, stated that he had worked closely with the New Jersey state police in crafting this bill. What his constituents thought of the bill, he did not say. According to the New Jersey legislative web-site, Mr. Albano is an electrician by trade. What Mr. Margarita's qualifications were he did not say. We were struck by the apparently chummy relationship which existed between the chairman of the committee, Mr.Wisniewski, Mr. Albano, and Mr. Margarita, while the other members of the comittee remained silent or asked only a few pro forma questions.

New Jersey: The New Jersey state assembly passed A1033 on March 17, 2008, by a vote of 72 to 5. A1033 was sponsored by Mr.Wisniewski. This bill would raise the fine for failing to strap a child under 8 years of age into a death-trap seat to $100 for the first offense and from $250 to $500 for the second and subsequent offenses. It would impose similar fines on the driver if a person between 8 and 18 years of age was not wearing a seatbelt.
This bill was reported out, with a recommendation to pass, by the transportation committee on January 28, 2008. Mr. Margarita was the only witness for this bill (see below). The same bill was introduced last year under a different number. It did not make it out of committee last year.
We don't know how big a bribe NHTSA offered New Jersey to pass this bill, but based on what they have offered other states, it would come to around $4,000,000. Just think about that. The federal government is offering these people millions of dollars of your tax money to rip you off for not doing something that is liable to kill your child.

Florida: The Florida state legislature has adjourned without enacting S0668 or H0619, the Anton's Law bills. The Florida state house of representatives debated at length, and passed, H0619, the House version of the bill, on the last day of the session, May 2, 2008. The final vote was 118 to 0. The bill provided no penalties for violators. The bill stated that it is to go into effect on July 1,2008 "except as otherwise provided". However, the bill "otherwise provided" that no action may be taken prior to July 1, 2009, at which time officers may stop a violator and issue them a "verbal warning" and give them "educational literature". It further stated that the bill is to go into effect on July 1, 2010. Senate proponents of the corresponding senate bill, S0668, apparently hoped for similar consideration on the last day in the senate, but the senate did not take up the bill before adjourning. Both bills are now dead.

Hawaii: The Hawaii state legislature has adjourned without passing HB 2406, HB 3335, or SB 2621. HB 2406 would require seatbelts on school buses. There was a hearing on this bill in the transportation committee on January 25. Transportation committee recommended pass with amendments on 1/30/08. The amendments are in detail only. This bill passed second reading on 2/5/08 and was sent to the education committee. HB 3335 would require seatbelts on school buses. Sent to transportation committee on 1/25/08. SB 2621 would require seatbelts on school buses and require that pupils who fail to use them be "disciplined". Introduced 1/18/08 and sent to the transportation committee on January 22, 2008.

Mississippi: Governor Haley Barbour, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee, signed, on May 8, 2008, the Orwellian and irrational Anton's Law bill, HB 0558. Mississippi and Michigan are the only states to pass this lunatic piece of legislation this year. The Mississippi state legislature passed and sent to the governor HB 0558, Anton's Law, on 4/21/08. This represents the first victory for the seatbelt scammers this year. The bill passed the House on 2/15/08 by 103 to 3, and the senate by 51 to 0 on 3/19/08. Because the bills were different they had to go to conference. The conference report was passed by both houses on 4/14/08 by voice vote. The bill provides a penalty of $25 for each offense "upon conviction" and specifically states that no additional fines or fees are to be assessed in connection with this violation and that a conviction is not to be entered on the driver's record. No fiscal impact statement has been released so we don't know how much NHTSA paid Mississippi to pass this bill.

Indiana: Legislature convened on January 8, 2008 and adjourned on March 14, 2008. No bills on seatbelts, booster seats or helmets were introduced. A bill to make it illegal for teenagers to use a cell phone while driving died in committee. Less fortuitously, a bill to require the seller of an automobile to notify the buyer if the vehicle contains an event data recorder also died in committee.

Iowa: The Iowa state legislature adjourned on April 26 (at 2:32 a.m.) without passing either HF 2040 or HF 2043. HF 2040 would have required seatbelts on school buses. Introduced 1/24/08 and sent to transportation committee. HF 2043 would have required vehicle occupants to use the shoulder harness when one is installed. Introduced 1/24/08 and sent to transportation committee.

Arizona: The Arizona state legislature adjourned on April 26, 2008, without passing HB 2405 or HB 2415. HB 2405 and HB 2415 would have imposed Anton's Law on Arizona. The two bills are basically the same. The first had 12 sponsors and the second had 8. Introduced 1/17/08. HB 2405 was assigned to both the transportation committee and the rules committee on 1/24/08. HB 2415 had its second reading in the House on 1/29/08. HB 2405 second reading 1/28/08.

South Dakota: The South Dakota state legislature adjourned on April 11, 2008 without considering SB 147. SB 147 would have made South Dakota's seatbelt law primary. Introduced 1/16/08 and sent to the transportation committee on 1/24/08. On the same day, the transportation committee decreed that the bill be deferred to the 36th legislative day. What makes this decision interesting is that the South Dakota state legislature is only scheduled to meet for 35 legislative days.

Nebraska: The Nebraska state legislature has adjourned without passing LB 1092. Last year, LB 489 would have required seatbelts on school buses and attempted to define which version FMVSS 208 seatbelts should conform to. This bill went nowhere. It was reintroduced this year as LB 1092. This bill would require school boards to consult the state police on how many persons may be carried safely on a bus. It requires seatbelts on cars made in 1973 or later but deletes the reference to specific federal safety standards and instead merely says they should conform to the standards that were in force at the time the vehicle was built. For school buses, the seatbelts are to be chosen "as appropriate". Introduced 1/23/08 and sent to transportation committee. Passed by committee on 2/12/08 by a vote of 6 to 1 with one abstention.

Kentucky: The Kentucky state legislature adjourned on April 15, 2008 without enacting either HB 55 or SB 114. Neither bill made it to the floor of the senate. The Anton's law bill, HB55, was passed by the House on 2/14/08 by a vote of 68 to 22. An amendment to have the fine money go to a veteran's trust fund was ruled "not germane". The bill was sent to the senate judiciary committee on 2/20/08. SB 33 has been withdrawn. Three bills introduced so far: HB 55 and SB 114 are Anton's law and SB 33 would have required motorcycle helmets. SB 114 was introduced on January 28, 2008. HB 55 was recommended for passage by the transportation committee on 2/5/08, second reading 2/6/08, sent to rules, "posted for passage under regular orders" by rules for February 7. SB 114 was sent to the judiciary committee on January 30.

Alaska: SB 218: The Alaska state legislature has adjourned without the House taking up SB 218. The Alaska state senate, on April 7, 2008, passed SB 218 by a vote of 19 to 0. SB 218 spells out in great detail and complexity the type and location of booster seats or seatbelts required for children, depending on the age, size and weight of the child. On February 6, 2008, the transportation committee voted on this bill: two members were in favor and two voted for "no recommendation". NHTSA has promised Alaska that if they pass this bill they will get a federal grant in the amount of $192,235 in fiscal 2009. Since the congress has not yet appropriated any money for fiscal 2009, it is not entirely clear how NHTSA can make this promise.

West Virginia: The West Virginia state legislature adjourned on March 16, 2008 without considering HB 2579, HB 2512 or HB 2834. HB 2579 and 2512 would make West Virginia's seatbelt law primary. Introduced 1/9/08 and sent to transportation committee. These bills (or others like them) have been introduced every year since we have been following this matter and have never yet made it out of committee. HB 2834 would require occupants of motorcycle side cars to wear seatbelts. It would also require motorcycle helmets, and specifies in great detail the type of goggles to be worn, the size of the handle bars, and much else. Introduced 1/9/08 and sent to transportation committee.

Washington: The Washington state legislature adjourned on March 13, 2008 without considering SB 5103. The school bus bill, SB 5103, which went nowhere last year, has been reintroduced this year and sent to the education committee. This bill would require seatbelts on school buses.

Virginia: The Virginia state legislature adjourned on March 13, 2008, without passing any of the bills mentioned. HB 460 would require helmets for riders of ATVs and off road motorcycles. House left in committee 2/12/08. HB 1173 would make the motorcycle helmet law secondary. Defeated in comittee 1/22/08. SB 698 would set penalty for failure to wear a motorcycle helmet at $25. The sponsors claim the penalty is now as high as $250 so this would represent a reduction. Defeated in senate, 1/31/08. HB 225 would exempt children riding on public transporation from having to wear a seatbelt or sit in a booster seat. In order to make this bill more palatable to the seatbelt loonies, it would make Virginia's seatbelt law primary for those under 16, impose Anton's law, and specify all kinds of details about booster seats which must be forward facing or backward facing, in the front seat or in the back seat, with a back or without a back, and so on, depending on the circumstances. You have to wonder where the legislators get these ideas. Sent to transportation committee on 1/14/08. The House declined to consider this bill on 2/12/08 and left it in the transportation committee.
The Virginia legislature convened on January 9, 2008. Under a bill passed last year, it is now illegal for a child under 8 to ride public transportation in Virginia without a booster seat. Governor Kaine tried to get this provision taken out but was not successful.

Oregon: The Oregon state legislature adjourned on February 22, 2008 without passing any new Orwellian laws. They have so many on the books already it's hard to see how they can add any more. Legislature convened on February 4, 2008. Nothing new so far but last year HB 2536 would have created the offense of "endangering the life of a child" for not strapping your child into a death-trap seat. A number of these bills have been introduced in various state legislatures with fines ranging up to $2,500 and a year in jail. This one would only have set the fine at $90 and was passed by the judiciary committee but was killed by the speaker in an adroit parliamentary maneuver when he sent it to Ways and Means, where it died. HB 2862 would have required seatbelts on school buses but died in committee.

Maryland: SB 20: The Maryland state legislature has adjourned without passing SB 20. Nevertheless, the fact that this bill was passed unanimously by the Maryland state senate is a hopeful sign. Obviously, it is going to take many years to put an end to the seatbelt-airbag-boosterseat scams, and many will die before it is all over. The seatbelt-airbag-boosterseat industry takes in more than $10 billion dollars a year from these scams. They have more than 80 plants in more than 30 countries around the world and employ more than 40,000 people. Their stockholders stand to lose billions if these laws are repealed. So that is what we are up against. Nevertheless, we shall continue the fight.

A hearing was held on this bill in the Environmental Affairs Committee on March 25 at 1:00 p.m. Results have not been published. This is an important bill because, although modest, it would represent the first step in reversing the lunacy which has taken so many lives. MARYLAND STATE SENATE PASSES BILL STATING THAT SCHOOL BUSES ARE NOT REQUIRED TO BE EQUIPPED WITH SEATBELTS BY A VOTE OF 43 TO 0. The Maryland state senate passed SB 20 on 2/7/08 by a vote of 43 to 0. SB 20 is suppposed to "clarify" that "Type I" school vehicles are not required to be equipped with seatbelts. As near as we can determine, a "Type I school vehicle" is a school bus. The title of the bill specifically states that the bill refers to "school buses and former school buses". Introduced January 11, 2008. There was a hearing on this bill in the judiciary committee on January 22. The committee reported out the bill "favorable, with amendments". The only published version of this bill hedges a bit, but, so far as we can tell, it basically states that school buses are not required to be equipped with seatbelts. This is the first bill of it's kind we have seen, but hopefully not the last. This bill has now been sent to the House (2/8/08) where it has been assigned to the environmental affairs committee.

Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania state legislature has adjourned without further action on HB 2173. HB 2173 would require seatbelts in school buses. Introduced 1/17/08 and sent to transportation committee. Similar bills introduced in Pennsylvania last year went nowhere.

Rhode Island: The senate judiciary committee considered S2089 and S2024 on April 3, 2008 and recommended that both bills be "held for further study" . Senate bill 2024 would raise fines for about a hundred different traffic offenses (they can always get you for something) among which is "failure to wear a motorcycle helmet". The fine would increase to $60 for the driver and $75 for a passenger. S2089 would make it illegal to smoke in any vehicle in which a child is present and is required to be in a booster seat. The fine is set at $25. This bill is entitled "The Rhode Island Protection from Second Hand Smoke for Children Act of 2008". Introduced 1/15/08 and sent to judiciary committee.
H7417 was considered in the judiciary committee on March 11, 2008. The committee recommended that the bill be held for further study. H7417 would impose Anton's law on Rhode Island, make Rhode Island's seatbelt law primary, specifies in great detail where children in a given age group should sit, says half the fine should go to the state and half to the town where the ticket was given, and so on. It also increases fines for a hundredseventy different traffic offenses, some of which most Rhode Island drivers may not even be aware are offenses, to as much as $500. This bill should be entitled the "Rhode Island Ripoff Bill of 2008." Introduced 2/12/08 and sent to judiciary committee. We are going to have to keep an eye on this one.

Like New Jersey, Rhode Island does not issue a financial impact statement for proposed legislation so we dont know how big a bribe NHTSA offered Rhode Island to include a primary seatbelt law and Anton's law in H7417, but it was likely several million dollars. Introduced 1/02/08 and sent to the senate judiciary committee.

Utah: On 3/05/08, the Utah House of Representatives killed HB 0087 and adjourned. HB 0087 would have made the Utah seatbelt law primary. Actually, what they did was to "strike the enacting clause". We have learned from experience never to assume that a seatbelt bill is dead until a stake has been driven through its heart. But right now it seems unlikely that this bill will rise from the grave. HB 0087 had only one sponsor, Mr. Richard Greenwood. According to the Utah legislative web-site, Mr. Greenwood is the police chief of a small town in Utah and was appointed (not elected) to the legislature in 2007. He originally filed this bill on November 20, 2007. After the bitter and bloody fights of the last two years, all but the blindest Utah legislators are well aware of the truth about seatbelts and the corruption behind them.

Georgia: HB 924, entitled: the "Teenage Seatbelt Safety Act", would increase the penalty for teenagers convicted of failure to wear a seatbelt up to a $100 fine and suspension of driver's license for one year for the fourth offense. First reading, 1/28/08. Only one sponsor. Second reading 1/29/08. Passed by judiciary committee, 3/04/08.

Ohio: A search for "seat belts" under current legislation in Ohio brings up 10 documents, including one about a thousand pages long which revises the entire Ohio code of laws. Other bills mentioned include HB 82, the school bus bill, which died last year, HB 320 which would impose Anton's law on Ohio and make Ohio's seatbelt law primary up to age 18, and SB 27, which would impose Anton's law on Ohio. There has been no action on HB 320 since 9/20/07 and no action on SB 27 since 2/20/07.

One of the tricks which the seatbelt scammers have used in the past is to hide a provision to make the seatbelt law primary in another bill, preferably a very long one, on another subject. While it is unlikely that Ohio would pass a primary seatbelt law, given the sentiment in the state, concerned residents of Ohio should keep an eye on their state legislature.

California: The governor of one of the biggest, most Orwellian states in the Union has finally said "enough". Governor Schawrzenegger vetoed AB 881. Last year, the California state legislature passed AB 881, the Anton's Law bill. The state legislature did not even attempt to override the governor's veto.

New York: Last year A02472 would have required booster seats in taxicabs, A06036 would have required seatbelts in taxicabs and A06676, S00984 and S01538 would have required seatbelts on school buses. A07073 would require passengers to actually wear the seatbelts on school buses if any are installed. A03271 would require seatbelts on vans used to transport children to school. None of these bills made it out of committee. All of them have been reintroduced this year. Some of them have been introduced every year since 1999. The committees they are assigned to, transportation and education, no longer even bother to consider them.
New York was the first state in the union to pass a seatbelt law (in 1984) and it was primary. It was also the first state (but not the last) in which the police asked to be exempted.

Another "ejection" story: On April 11, 2008, CBS news reported that the driver in the Caldwell accident was "ejected". Unfortunately for CBS news, this accident happened just down the road from our office and there was an eye witness who actually saw the accident. The witness stated that the car was on fire and that she found the driver behind the car. Naturally the driver would have gotten out of the car if she was able, seeing that the car was on fire. There is not a shred of evidence that she was "ejected" , and if she had been ejected it would be very hard to explain how she wound up behind the car, consistent with the laws of physics. Notice that the toddler would have burned to death, trapped in his death-trap seat, if our heroine had not been on hand to pull him from the flames. We don't know where CBS news got their misinformation, but we can guess. For the full story, including a video link to the eyewitness account, click on the link below:

Speaking of rollovers: From the Idaho Statesman, April 24, 2008: Two people died and one was severely injured in a single car rollover of a Jeep Cherokee, on Idaho 55, a little after 1 a.m., Wednesday. "Everyone in the car was wearing a seatbelt". "Police suspect alcohol was involved".Later in the morning, "McDaneld died after his pickup truck rolled over several times on I-84.....McDaneld was wearing a seatbelt". In another accident, a 16 year old boy drove "a sports utility vehicle (at) about 70 mph through a red light and into a semi truck....was pulled from the burning wreckage... died from injuries sustained in the fiery crash". No mention of seatbelts for this one but we know from having seen many such accidents that he would have been crushed as the vehicle was stove in and trapped in the wreck. (Note: the Statesman on line edition does not mention seatbelts, but the print edition does.)

Puzzle No. 3: It takes a high degree of centrifugal force to cause a 4,000 pound SUV to roll over. If a vehicle occupant, such as a child in a booster seat, is tied to the vehicle, then that occupant, too, would experience a high degree of centrifugal force. What would be the force on a child in a booster seat during the first 90 degrees of an SUV rollover?

Solution to Puzzle No. 3: The graph on the left shows the force on a child sitting on the inside of the rotation for rollovers at speeds ranging from 59 to 95 fps (40 to 65 mph). The discontinuity in the solution indicates a vault. The graph on the right shows the direction of the force in the transverse plane: omega is the angle in radians which the force makes with the perpendicular to the side of the car; a negative value indicates that the force component perpendicular to the seat is downward -i.e., towards the seat, and a positive value indicates that the force component is upward - that is, away from the seat and against the straps. Notice that when the force is highest, just before vault, all the force is directed against the straps.

For the full report, click on one of the following links: puzzlesol3.pdf puzzlesol3.htm puzzlesol3.doc (Note: this is a 55 page report).

News Item: Accident in Fresno, California. From CNN, Novermber 3, 2007. FRESNO, Calif. -- A man was arrested Saturday on a drunken driving charge after two people were killed and dozens more injured in a massive morning pileup in dense fog that involved more than 100 cars and trucks, the California Highway Patrol said.....CHP Officer Paul Solorzano Jr. described the scene as "something out of a movie, walking up and seeing all the cars mangled and crushed." (emphasis added. ed.)

NOTE:
NTSB is headed by General Mark Rosenker, a former Air Force public relations officer with no professional knowledge of transportation safety.
NHTSA is headed by Nicole Nason, a lawyer and former congressional staffer with no professional knowledge of highway safety.
CPSC is headed by Thomas Moore and Nancy Nord, both lawyers and former congressional staffers with no professional knowledge of consumer product safety.
Are these the people you want to trust with your life?

Take note:

An air bag is like a bomb. If it goes off it can kill you.

Beware of "safety" devices invented by amateurs.

See how and why NHTSA gets states to pass primary and other seatbelt laws

Two children trapped in a sinking minivan are alive (but in critical condition, ed.) thanks to the efforts of five good Samaritans who jumped into a retention pond near Walt Disney World and saved them. "The van completely became submerged. It was really, really scary," one of the rescuers said."For the quick reaction that these good Samaritans had, they saved these kids' lives," Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Kim Miller told CNN affiliate WKMG-TV of Orlando."It is anyone's worst nightmare. We know what can happen if kids are under water."The Nissan Quest plunged into the pond off U.S. Highway 192 on Wednesday afternoon when a spare tire blew out, causing the driver to lose control, the highway patrol said.The westbound van was carrying five people. The driver, Ermarie Otereo, 24, and two passengers, Sulane Suero, 21, of Orlando, and Ivan Rivera, 6, of Kissimmee, were able to escape the submerged minivan, WKMG reported.But Niomy Rivera, 3, of Kissimmee and Derek Rivera, 1, of Kissimmee, were trapped under water for as long as seven minutes, the station said.Witnesses said Otereo was screaming for help, saying her babies were in the car, The Associated Press reported.The good Samaritans saw the sinking van and jumped in to save the children."I screamed for a knife ... and I went in and cut up the seat belts on the car seat to get the baby out," rescuer Elliott Ramos told WKMG. "I was feeling the baby's body. He was motionless, so I'm trying to put my hand underneath the belt, so I could cut it without injuring the baby," Ramos told CNN affiliate WESH-TV of Orlando. "I was just fearing for somebody's life ... I was praying to God, please let these babies live, please let these babies live. Thank God we got them in time."Another rescuer, Robert Wright, told WESH he was on his way to pick up his children when he saw the van go out of control and plunge into the pond. Wright said he didn't think twice about stopping to help."The mother was yelling that her babies were in the car," Wright said. "The van completely became submerged. It was really, really scary. You couldn't see anything. It was totally black underwater. We couldn't get the seat belts loose from the kids. It was pretty bad," Wright said. All of the occupants were taken to hospital, AP reported. Niomy and Derek Rivera were in critical condition at Florida Hospital South on Thursday.

Puzzle Answer:

Live action edge strike, by Robert E. Larsen

For the complete report on the solution to the puzzle below, click on puzzle2.html or puzzle2.pdf

Puzzle contest: In our previous puzzle, we showed what the booster seat straps would do to a child in a head-on collision. What would the booster seat straps do to a child in a roll-over? In their analysis of a roll-over accident, Yamaguchi, et. al.*, find an angular velocity of 4.89 radians per second when the roof edge strikes the ground after the vehicle has rotated over 90 degrees. Assuming a typical four-year-old (Anton) in a booster seat in the vehicle, with what force would the child's neck be driven into the edge of the shoulder belt?
*Yamaguchi, G.T., et. al., "Development of a Computational Method to Predict Occupant Motions and Neck Loads During Rollovers" SAE Technical Paper Series, 2005-01-0300; Biomechanics 2005 (SP-1929); Presented at the SAE 2005 World Congress, Detroit, Michigan, April 11-14, 2005.

Note to senators Murray, Dole, Clinton and others who want to use the police to force seatbelts on the American people. If you dont know the answer to this puzzle, maybe you shouldn't be pontificating about seatbelts.

If you don't think this is a problem, consider what the Senate Appropriations Committee had to say in their report:

"The Committee believes that it is critical that the Secretary and the Administrator be engaged in this effort and directs the agency to submit quarterly reports on the actions taken by the agency to work towards the implementation of primary seat belt laws in all States."

Take note: If you are wearing a seatbelt and you are involved in a head on-collision like the ones shown in the NHTSA crash test videos, the seatbelt will exert a force on you equal to 30 times your body weight. That means that if you weigh 150 pounds, the seatbelt will exert a force on you of 4,500 lbs. Fourthousandfivehundred pounds. In other words, YOU WILL DIE.

Newton's Laws of Motion have been officially repealed by the United States Congress. It's true. Read 23 USC 153, 157, 402, 405 and 406. Nevertheless, they continue in force. Since Isaac Newton is dead, he cannot be forced to recant, as was Galileo. So the Congress is taking refuge in denial.

Comment: Why are the two most important data points, the cause of death and the cause of the accident, missing from the FARS data base? Surely, if you want to find ways to save people's lives in auto accidents, the first thing you want want to know is what caused their death. Yet NHTSA has not done this. Surely it would be better, rather than spending billions to promote crackpot schemes, to prevent the accidents from happening in the first place. In order to do this, would you not want to know what is causing the accidents? Yet NHTSA has not done this. If you are going to create an agency to improve highway safety, would you not want to have a director who knew something about highway safety? Yet, in its entire fortyone year history, NHTSA has never had a director who knew anything about highway safety.

Ms. Nicole Nason, the NHTSA administrator, on August 15, 2007, chaired a small meeting at which a young man from the Department of Transportation explained why putting seatbelts on school buses is not a practical proposition. During the past legislative season, NHTSA's nationwide lobbying machine, probably in response to pressure on Ms. Nason by certain members of congress, was able to get school bus seatbelt laws introduced in most state legislatures. However, none of them passed and most of them never even made it out of committee. This meeting looks to us like an attempt to spare NHTSA from having to go through this again.

August 5, 2007 was the fiftieth anniversary of the first seatbelt hearing held in the U.S. Congress. This hearing set the tone for most of the subsequent hearings on this subject which have been held since then. The witnesses were carefully chosen for their willingness to say that it was a great idea and their readiness to state the most absurd falsehoods under oath in support of that idea.

"Child safety and child booster seat safety incentive grants.--Section 2011 of SAFETEA-LU established a new incentive grant program to make grants available to states that are enforcing a law requiring any child riding in a passenger vehicle who is too large to be secured in a child safety seat to be secured in a child restraint that meets the requirements prescribed under section 3 of Anton's Law (49 U.S.C. 30127 note; 116 Stat. 2772). These grants may be used only for child safety seat and child restraint programs.

The Committee is disappointed that NHTSA failed to determine state eligibility in a timely fashion and, as a result, awarded less than half of the authorized funds for this program in fiscal year 2006. The Committee encourages NHTSA to work aggressively to award available Section 2011 funds to all qualified states.

Actually, the only state which passed Anton's Law last year was Hawaii. It certainly wasn't for want of trying by NHTSA. The total amount appropriated for this "law" for fiscal 2006 was $6,000,000. Half of $6,000,000 is $3,000,000. Did Hawaii get the whole $3,000,000?

The corresponding senate bill is S.1789

The sponsor of S.1789 is senator Patty Murray of Washington, the same Patty Murray who chaired the transportation sub-committee of the senate appropriations committee, which reported out this bill. (See excerpt below).
HR 3074 was only introduced in the House on July 18, 2007 so its passage on July 24 represents something of a speed record for this type of bill. Since this is the biggest pork barrel in the budget, there is usually a bitter fight over who gets what.

Here is what the senate appropriations sub-committee (chaired by senator Murray) wrote in their report:

This statement is absolutely staggering in its falsity, mendacity, and arrogance. Let's just take their statements one at a time:

1. “Seatbelts have been proven to be one of the most effective tools in reducing highway fatalities.” As we, and others, have shown, with massive evidence and documentation, based on years of research, which you can find on this web-site, seatbelts increase, not decrease the fatality rate in automobile accidents. As we know after the most careful and exhaustive investigation, the “proof” that the committee report refers to does not exist. The statement is an out and out falsehood.

2. “NHTSA estimates that seatbelts saved 15,632 lives in 2005 and that an additional 5,328 lives could have been saved if motor vehicle occupants had been wearing seatbelts.” A careful investigation of this “estimate” reveals that it is purely a product of the writer’s imagination. It is an out and out fabrication based on nothing but thin air.

3. “Strong seatbelt laws have proven effective…in saving lives”. In four years of research we have not been able to find a single verified case of a person’s life ever being saved by a seatbelt in an automobile accident. As best we can tell, based on the available evidence, seatbelts kill approximately 2,000 people a year in this country. (See our report, “The Truth About Seatbelts”, on this web-site).

4. “The enactment of primary seatbelt laws has been on the National Transportation Safety Board’s Most Wanted List since 1998”. According to the NTSB web-site, “State Mandatory Seatbelt Use Laws” was added to their “Most Wanted List” in l991 and removed in l994. Nowhere does it indicate that it was put back in 1998, or at any other time.

5. “Under a provision in SAFETEA-LU, the Secretary and the Administrator have the ability to go to States to work for the implementation of primary seat belt laws.” We have read “SAFETEA-LU” very carefully and have not found such a provision, which would, in any case, violate the spirit, if not the letter, of the congressional ban on federal employees lobbying state legislatures.

6. “In testimony before the Committee, the Secretary stated that she had personally gone out to States to encourage the enactment of primary seat belt laws.” We were not aware that she had done so, but if she did, we believe it would be in violation of federal law. It would certainly be inappropriate, in our opinion, and exceed her mandate.

Notice that, as before, the subcommittee took it upon itself to lecture and instruct NHTSA in its duties before the full committee, let alone the full senate, never mind the House of Representatives or the President of the United States, had a chance to consider their report.

Summary of the results of the main legislative sessions of 2007: The seatbelt scammers scored some notable successes in 2007, as they have in every year since 1984. They got a primary seatbelt law passed in Maine with fines up to $500. They got a draconian booster seat law passed in Nevada, with fines up to $1,000 plus 100 hours of slave labor. They got Anton's law passed in Virginia and North Carolina. They got a primary seatbelt law passed in Nebraska for persons up to 18 years of age. And they got a primary seatbelt law passed in one house of the legislature in states where that would previously have been unthinkable: New Hampshire, Nevada and Montana. Thus, lies, fraud, deceit and corruption, funded by millions of taxpayer dollars, have further eroded our liberty and our safety. They will continue to do so as long as congress continues to mandate and fund NHTSA's nationwide lobbying campaign.

Re Anton's Law in the U.S. Code: You may think this is all legastistic gobblediguk, but this is what leads to that flashing red light in your rear view mirror and that siren telling you to pull over.
We thought you might like to read what your congress has enacted into law. This is from 49 USC 30127 note. This stuff isnt easy to find. In fact, they would probably rather you didn't find it. This note was referenced in House report 109-203, which was the final conference report on HR 3, and is now P.L. 109-59. You will find the reference in section 2011(a).

"(h) Booster seat study. .....not later than 12 months after the date of the enactment of this Act (Nov. 1, 2001) the Secretary of Transportation shall initiate and complete a study, taking into acount the views of the public, on the use and effectiveness of automobile booster seats for children, compiling information on the advantages and disadvantages of using booster seats and determining the benefits, if any, to children from use of booster (seats?) with lap and shoulder belts compared to children using lap and shoulder belts alone, and submit a report on the results of that study to the congress "

Well, now isn't that nice. What could be fairer than that. Unfortunately, our euphoria is cut short by the next paragraph:

"(i) Booster seat education program. The Secretary of Transportation within one year after the date of the enactment of this act (Nov. 1, 2001) shall develop a 5 year strategic plan to reduce deaths and injuries caused by the failure to use the appropriate booster seat in the 4 to 8 year old age group by 25%"

Note: We have already shown how booster seats kill children in fire, in water, and in head-on collisions, as shown in the famous NHTSA dummy test videos. See THE GREAT BOOSTER SEAT SCAM below for more.

THE GREAT BOOSTER SEAT SCAM

Child death-trap seats: As we have shown (see Puzzles, above and below), the straps on a booster seat will kill the child in even a medium speed head-on collision of the type shown in the NHTSA videos. A booster seat puts the child's head closer to the roof of the car, thus making it more likely that its head will be crushed in a roll-over. Elevating a child makes it more likely that the child will be killed in an override, while it might have survived lower down. A strapped in child may suffer serious injury or death from the straps in case of other types of collisions, as well as head-on. Strapping in a child makes it more likely that the child will be crushed when the vehicle is stove in, since the child cannot avoid the blow or be pushed aside. Strapping in a child makes it more likely that the child will be burned to death if the car catches fire because it may not be possible to release the child in time, or at all - and we have seen this in case after case. Strapping in a child makes it more likely that the child will be drowned if the car plunges into water for the same reasons, and this too we have seen in actual cases. A study released on December 8, 2006 also shows the danger of leaving children strapped into these seats for too long, even without an accident. CTV_ca.htm, Car_seats.htm.

NHTSA, under orders from congress, would have you believe that there is this great national crisis of children being killed in head-on collisions, making necessary draconian laws to force parents to strap their children into booster seats. As we have shown below (see puzzle), strapping a child into a booster seat almost guarantees that the child will be killed in a head-on collision. But let's just see if this is a great national problem, based on the government's own data. According to the FARS data base for 2001 (the last year the government listed head-on collisions as a separate category), in that year, out of approximately 23 million children in the United States under the age of 6, 128 were killed in head-on collisions. Of those, FARS states that 51 were definitely in booster seats, 15 may have been in booster seats but they're not really sure, 6 were in booster seats but, according to FARS, the seat was "improperly used", leaving only 56, out of 23 million, who were definitely not in booster seats. As we have shown below, had those 56 been in booster seats, their chances of survival would not have improved. You can check these numbers for yourself by visiting ftp://ftp.nhtsa.dot.gov/FARS/
Seeing that the small number of head-on collisions was undermining their case for seatbelts and booster seats, NHTSA, after 2001, stopped listing head-on collisions as a separate category, lumping them together with front end collisions, hoping that people would be too dumb to know the difference. But front end collisions can be off center collisions at any angle so they are not quite the same thing as the scenario shown in the crash test videos. Nevertheless, NHTSA hoped that the fact that there are more front end collisions than head-on collisions would make it seem like a bigger problem. It didnt work out that way. Let's just look at the data for 2005, the most recent year for which data is available:

In 2005, out of approximately 25 million children in the United States under 6 years of age, 75 were killed in front end collisions. We ran this through the SAS filter twice, just to make sure it was not a mistake. Of those, only 16 were known not be in some kind of restraint. 39 were in booster seats (52%), 8 were in lap and shoulder belts, 4 were in lap belts, 2 were said to be in a restraint but the recording officer did not know what type, and for 6 they did not know if they had been in a restraint or not.
NHTSA then tried to claim that children should be placed in booster seats to prevent them from being "ejected". Let's see what the FARS data base has to say about it. In 2005, out of 25 million children in the United States under 6 years of age, they say that 126 were killed by being "ejected". Of these, 89, or 71%, were in high c.g. vehicles, mainly SUVs and vans. This is due to the fact that 79% of these accidents were rollovers. Thus, only 37 children, out of 25 million, were killed by being ejected from regular automobiles. In fact, even these numbers may err on the high side. Out of the 126 cases for which they claim a child was killed by being ejected, in 98 of those cases the officer could not say how, i.e. through what opening, the child was ejected. Moreover, in 47 cases, the child was said to have been in a restraint prior to ejection. Of these, 41 were said to have been in booster seats, 5 were said to have been in seatbelts, and one in a restraint of unknown type. We know from long experience that police claims of "ejection" are not to be trusted. FARS also tells us that out of the 126 children supposedly killed by ejection, 103, or 82%, were killed in single car accidents; that is, in most cases, the driver of the vehicle the child was in caused the accident.

Anton's Law: NHTSA this year has been trying to get states to pass "Anton's Law". Under this so-called law, parents would be required to strap 6 and 7 year old children into booster seats. Anton, it seems, was a four year old who was killed when "his mother lost control of her car". How this translates into requiring 6 and 7 year olds to be strapped into booster seats, they did not say. Congress has appropriated $6 million dollars a year to promote this law. Let's just see what the government's own data has to say about it: According to the FARS data base, out of the approximately ten million 6 and 7 year old children in the United States in 2005, 19 were killed in front end collisions. Of these, 8 were in lap and shoulder belts, 5 were in lap belts, one was in a booster seat, 4 were unrestrained and 2 were unknown. All but three were riding in the back seat and most were, therefore, almost certainly killed by their restraints. (cf. California AB 881 above which would require all children up to 8 years of age to sit in the back seat).
Another argument that has been put forward for Anton's Law is that it would save lives by preventing children from being "ejected". As we know from our analysis, and actual accident reports, a vehicle occupant has a better chance of surviving an accident if he is ejected than if he is trapped in the vehicle by "restraints". But let's just see, from the government's own data, how many 6 and 7 year olds are actually killed by being ejected. According to the FARS data base, out of the approximately ten million children in that age group in the United States in 2005, 42 were, supposedly, killed by being ejected. However, this number may err on the high side. When asked, on the form, how the children were ejected (i.e., through what opening), in 36 of the 42 cases the officers stated that they did not know. Moreover, four of the children were said to be in lap and shoulder belts, one was said to be in a lap belt, and one was said to be in a booster seat. In most of these cases, had the child been trapped in the vehicle by a restraint, it would have been killed anyway.

Finally, there is the question of how these accidents happened. Even SUVs dont just roll over by themselves. A driver has to do something pretty unusual to get one to roll over. And most of these were single car accidents. In other words, the driver caused the accident. NHTSA does not tell us how these accidents happened, but they do tell us that in 64% of fatal accidents the driver was driving in an unsafe manner - speeding, drunk, drugged, mentally deranged, and so on.
There is an old saying: "Accidents do not happen; they are caused".

Puzzle A car smashes perpendicularly into a concrete wall at 30 mph. We've never actually seen such an accident but since NHTSA seems to base almost all its design criteria on this scenario, we thought we would use it. A passenger in the vehicle, weighing 150 pounds and restrained by a seatbelt, comes to a stop in one foot. (This is based on NHTSA crash test videos which show about a foot of crush at the front of the vehicle). What would be the force of the seatbelt on the passenger?
Since NHTSA is now pushing "Anton's Law" requiring children up to 8 years old to be placed in booster seats, we offer you an alernative. Instead of an adult passenger, assume it is a child weighing 60 pounds in a booster seat which comes to a stop in one foot. What would be the force of the restraining straps on the child?

Puzzle answers: The force on the 150 pound passenger would be 4,509 pounds. The force on the 60 pound child would be 1,804 pounds. We have posted the solution so you can check to answers for yourself.

The new president of France: Nicolas Sarkozy was observed riding in his automobile without a seatbelt. France has a primary seatbelt law. Sarkozy has said that he wants to make changes in France, and this is a good start.

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