As part of his new financial budget proposal, Gov. Baldacci wants to revise Maine’s mandatory seat belt law.
Currently, Maine is one of several states that enforce the seat belt law on drivers only if there is a primary, unrelated cause for stopping a vehicle, such as a moving violation or faulty equipment. If the driver is not belted, in Maine he faces a $50 fine.
The new version of the law being espoused by Baldacci will allow police to pull vehicles over any time they suspect a driver isn’t belted. If their suspicions are accurate only 50 or 60 percent of the time, what sort of chaos on our roads will that create? Highway law enforcement could easily become the Anti-Destination League. But here’s the good part: if a driver isn’t belted under the revised law, the intent of which is to “save lives,” the driver faces a whopping $225 fine. One does not require a third eyeball to see through this scheme. Saving lives, my foot. This is nothing more than back-door revenue generation, another hidden tax being slapped on us in the name of “safety.”
Unless Baldacci is prepared to legislate a mandatory motorcycle helmet law at the same time, he should leave the current vehicle seat belt law alone. Otherwise, it would be blatant discrimination against one group of drivers over another. How “politically correct” would that be?
Paul St. Jean, Lewiston
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