New state seat-belt law takes effect on July 1, 2009. Click it or ticket!

Arkansas’s new seatbelt law takes effect this week, levying a $25 fine for not wearing one and giving officers the authority to make a traffic stop on that violation alone.

It was one of 1,501 laws passed this session.

Laws appropriating money usually take effect on July 1, the start of each fiscal year. Most pieces of general legislation take effect on the 91st day after formal adjournment of the General Assembly. For this year, that 91st day is July 31.

However, sometimes bills come attached with emergency clauses – some allowing the bill to become law immediately after the governor signs in and some setting some other specific date.

A June 30 effective date for the seatbelt law was set because it makes the state eligible for $9.5 million in federal highway money. Arkansas joins 26 other states in making not wearing a seatbelt a primary offense.

That means a police officer can make a traffic stop on that offense alone. Previously, not wearing a seatbelt was a secondary offense and an officer had to have another reason, such as a defective tail light, to make the traffic stop. The fine will be $25.

Supporters of the law say it will save lives and reduce the number of serious injuries sustained when drivers are slammed into steering wheels, dashboards and windshields or ejected from a vehicle.

Eighty-three percent of Americans regularly buckle up, compared to 70 percent in Arkansas. It’s the fourth lowest rate in the nation.

Opponents say such a seatbelt law is another example of government interference in the daily lives of citizens and would be another tool for law enforcement officers to harass motorists.

When lawmakers passed the law, they included these findings: that, in 2007, 525 people died while riding in passenger vehicles and 65 percent of those fatality victims were not wearing seatbelts. In the same year, 61 people died after being ejected from their vehicles during a rollover crash.

A primary seatbelt law could see that fatality rate decrease by at least 12 percent a year, prevent 504 serious injuries a year, and save $104 million in economic costs each year, according to the legislation.

Some experts say a driver who doesn’t use a seatbelt is less likely to have passengers buckle up – or even to make sure children are properly restrained.

Arkansas will be making a major investment in the coming years in a trauma network and in the quality of emergency rooms in several hospitals. A primary seatbelt law was seen by many as a way to prevent a lot of those injuries in the first place.