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As part of his State of Transportation Address Tuesday, the director of the State Department of Transportation urged lawmakers to pass stricter seat belt enforcement laws. KSMU's Missy Shelton reports.
Right now, drivers in Missouri are required to wear seat belts...But law enforcement officers can't pull over a driver exclusively for failing to wear a seat belt.
The director of the Missouri Department of Transportation, Pete Rahn urged lawmakers to give police more authority to enforce the seat belt law.
He made these remarks during his State of Transportation speech.
But the chairman of the House Transportation Committee, Republican Representative Neal St. Onge says a primary seat belt law won't be a priority for him.
He pushed for the law last year but lost the vote.
Lawmakers who oppose a primary seat belt law say drivers should be able to make the choice themselves.
Under current law, drivers only get a ticket for failing to buckle up if they get pulled over for other violations and the officers catches them without their seat belt.
Republican Representative Maynard Wallace says he doesn't want to go beyond the current law.
He says people in his district won't support anything more stringent.
MODOT Director Pete Rahn says he's aware of the objections of some lawmakers.
That didn't stop him from making the request for tougher seat belt laws in his speech to the General Assembly.
If the primary seat belt proposal doesn't appear to have support, safety advocates say they hope the legislature will approve broader safety seat requirements for children under age 8 who ride in cars.
