Wed., 2/8/12: Why Don't Mass. Drivers Buckle Up?

Why Don't Massachusetts Drivers Buckle Up?
Seat belts save lives and prevent injuries, but all too often drivers fail to buckle up in Massachusetts, where seat belt use is among the lowest in the country. Under current law, Massachusetts police can ticket a person for not wearing a seat belt, but a person can not be pulled over for not wearing one. Changes to the seat belt law to allow police to pull over drivers who are not buckled up would save the state lives and millons of dollars, proponents say. But, these changes to the seat belt bill is stuck in the state Legislature, as some say a primary enforcement seat belt law would encourage racial profiling. 

Do you regularly buckle up? If not, why? Will changes to the seat belt laws exacerbate racial profiling? Is this a no-brainer when it comes to saving lives? Weigh in on our Facebook page.

GUESTS:
  Stephanie Soriano-Mills, attorney and the chair of legal redress for the New England Area Conference of the NAACP
  Dr. Greg Parkinson, pediatric physician and the co-chairman of the Belts Ensure a Safer Tomorrow (BEST) Coalition 
  Beatrice Fuentes, member of the Belts Ensure a Safer Tomorrow Coalition, and a bilingual outreach coordinator Brain Injury Association of Massachusetts. The Seat Belt Bill is named after her daughter, Natalie, who was killed in a car crash in 2006. Natalie was not wearing a seat belt.