Assembly OKs Shoulder Belts in Older Cars
Used-car dealers would be required to install shoulder seat belts for the back seats of older cars under a measure passed by the Assembly on Monday.
The bill, sponsored by Assemblywoman Dierdre Alpert (D-Del Mar), is the result of a crusade by a San Diego County man whose twin sons were nearly cut in two by the conventional lap belts during a November, 1988, accident. One died and the other is a paraplegic.
“I’m pleased that there are legislators up there who see it my way and put a value of a life first,” said Jim Miller of Carlsbad. “This is a bill simply designed to save lives of rear-seat passengers, which are often children.”
The bill, which passed 45 to 23, would prohibit dealerships from selling used cars unless the vehicles are fitted with rear shoulder harnesses. If a dealer is unable to do so, the bill would require a written warning--perhaps a dashboard sticker--saying that severe injury could result from the lap belts during certain kinds of accidents.
The bill originally was intended for all cars made since 1972, the date when manufacturers began building in metal anchors for rear shoulder belts. Alpert said Monday she would change the bill to affect only post-1980 models. The proposal does not apply to used cars sold by individuals.
The measure goes to the Senate, where it could face stiff opposition from auto dealers.
While the federal government has mandated rear shoulder belts in cars manufactured since 1990, the law is silent on an estimated 140 million used cars equipped only with rear lap belts. Alpert said her bill was necessary because used-car dealers have been reluctant to sell or install shoulder harnesses--which cost from $100 to $400--on 162 different models made since 1972.
“They don’t want to be bothered,” she said.
Without the shoulder harnesses, the lap belts in some instances can pose a greater danger than wearing no belt at all, safety experts have found. The belts can slip, snap spines and all but sever internal organs when a person is jostled and thrown forward by the force of impact, they say. Most vulnerable are children, who carry a disproportionate amount of their body weight above the waist.
Miller has been crusading for the rear shoulder belts since he took his family for a drive near La Costa, about 40 miles north of San Diego. An oncoming motorist slammed head-on into his Ford Escort.
Miller and his wife, Patricia, were wearing shoulder belts in the front seat and sustained broken bones. Their 11-year-old sons, James and Richard, wore only lap belts. James died after suffering head and internal injuries; Richard is now in a wheelchair for life.
The family sued Ford and collected a $6-million settlement after obtaining documents Miller said showed that the car company knew since the early 1970s that persons wearing their back-seat lap belts would have only a 2% chance of surviving a 36- to 40-m.p.h. crash.
