|
Penalties may get stiffer for those driving and talking
Strap in the kids, buckle up and turn off the cell phone. The rules of the road in Minnesota might get more strict in 2007. In the name of highway safety, lawmakers are debating bills to increase the use of seat belts and child booster seats and cut down on behind-the-wheel phone calls. To pressure drivers into compliance, the tougher laws come with added fines. The way cell phone bill sponsor Sen. Scott Dibble sees it, "you are posing more risk, so you need to take on more risk." The proposals are zooming through the Legislature with more momentum than in the past to the dismay of people who view them as an overreach by state government. On Tuesday, the Senate Transportation Committee approved a bill requiring drivers to put passengers younger than 8 years old in booster seats or use other approved child restraints. The same panel endorsed legislation piling on more fines for drivers who break traffic laws while on the phone. Meanwhile, four committees have signed off on a separate plan giving police power to stop cars if they spot unbelted drivers or passengers and impose $25 fines for each unbuckled rider. Under current law, police must have another reason to pull a car over before issuing a seat belt citation. The general thrust of the bills is disconcerting to Chuck Samuelson at the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota. "You can't argue with each of them individually. But taken in total these sort of good-for-you government proposals, you can get concerned," Samuelson said. "You move toward a world where the government intrudes upon every aspect of your life. At what point are you not OK with that?" The safety restraint measures are designed to minimize injury from crashes; sponsors of the cell phone bill say it could prevent accidents in the first place by reducing a common driver distraction. By Brian Bakst, Associated Press Writer (Copyright 2007 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)
|
 MORE HEADLINES |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
