Assembly OKs Seat Belt Bill : Roberti Delays Senate Action for Leverage

A mandatory California seat belt bill advanced a step closer to Gov. George Deukmejian on Friday when the Assembly gave final approval to legislation that beginning Jan. 1 would penalize motorists who fail to buckle up and make California the first state to require air bags or other automatic crash devices in new cars.

The vote was 48 to 21.

But action on the bill was delayed in the Senate by President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles) as “insurance” that the Assembly would move quickly on Senate measures before the Legislature adjourned for the year.

Deukmejian a Question Mark

There also was uncertainty over Gov. George Deukmejian’s intentions. Although the governor had strongly endorsed the measure in July, on Friday his aides refused to say whether he would sign the bill in its latest form.

“Yes, he has been in favor of the concept in the past and he said so,” said Bob Taylor, Deukmejian’s deputy press secretary. “But obviously he will have to read the bill. . . . What if he sees something in there at the last minute that from a legal standpoint or a technical standpoint causes some problems? He has to review it with an attorney’s eye.”

In a compromise struck earlier this week, the Legislature added a provision to repeal the seat belt legislation if the Reagan Administration fails to enforce nationwide regulations requiring air bags or other restraints in new cars by the end of the decade.

Considered Federal Issue

In the past, the Republican governor, a close Reagan ally, has expressed reluctance to get involved in the air bag battle, saying it is a federal issue that should be addressed nationally.

Legislative sources, however, said that Deukmejian will be under great pressure to sign the bill, particularly in light of projections that many lives would be saved and the fact that the auto industry, which once vigorously fought air bag provisions in the bill, has withdrawn its opposition.

The bill was crafted by Democratic Assembly Speaker Willie Brown of San Francisco and by several large insurance companies that want to use it to pressure the Reagan Administration into enforcing its air bag regulations that require all autos to be equipped with automatic crash devices by the end of the decade.

Laws in Other States

With passage of the seat belt bill, California would join 15 other states that have enacted similar laws: New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Missouri, Michigan, New Mexico, Indiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Hawaii, Nebraska, Nevada, Texas, Connecticut and Louisiana. None of these states require air bags or other passive restraints.

Highway safety experts contend that if national trends hold true, a California seat belt law would trigger a dramatic drop in highway deaths, with some estimates putting the number at 1,000 fewer fatalities. About 4,500 people die each year in California traffic crashes.

Seat belt use among California motorists ranges from a low of 15% in Los Angeles to 23% in San Francisco, according to a 1983 study by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.

New York, where the nation’s first mandatory seat belt law took effect Jan. 1., experienced a 33% reduction in fatalities. Although seat belt use initially rose to 70% it has since declined to about 57%, but that still is three times higher than it was before the law.

Even More Lives

California would likely experience an even greater savings of life, because the seat belt law also would require installation of air bags or other passive restraints in new cars, beginning in 1989. Manufacturers who fail to equip new California cars with those crash devices could be fined $500 for each non-complying vehicle.

Drivers could face fines up to $20 on first offense and $50 for subsequent offenses if they or their passengers are cited for failing to wear seat belts. However, the measure would prohibit police from stopping motorists solely for seat belt law violations.

The California bill and others around the country were triggered by a Reagan Administration rule that would scrap national air bag regulations if states with two-thirds of the nation’s population pass qualifying seat belt laws. Under those regulations, all new cars would have to be equipped with automatic crash devices by the end of the decade.

If the California measure is signed into law, more than 50% of the U.S. population will be covered by seat belt laws.