Buckle up? Bay State drivers resist
Even after seven people not wearing seat belts died in three crashes over the July 4th weekend here in Massachusetts, the Globe easily managed to quote a handful of Boston-area residents today who tried proving seat belts as ineffective and just plain annoying.
Among the highlights:
“If you are driving in the city, you don’t need a seat belt; I only wear one on the highway."
“You don’t need one in town. If you are going 20 or 30 miles per hour for 2 minutes, it does not matter.’’
“Sometimes they scratch you.’’
About 67 percent of Massachusetts drivers are likely to use seat belts, compared to just over 80 percent nationwide, according to a study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. A law to allow police officers to stop anyone not wearing a seat belt failed last month to make it to the State House floor.
Currently, state law only allows officers to pull over a vehicle if a child younger than 12 is spotted unbuckled. Read more about this argument in today's Globe.
Comment
Permalink
E-mail
about boston overdrive
Boston.com reports the latest trends, auto shows and wrings out the newest cars in our city's hellish maze - and across the great roads of New England.In the garage: 2008 MBTA Zone 1A monthly pass, 1995 21-speed Iron Horse. Bill Griffith is an automotive correspondent for The Boston Globe and has reviewed cars for 10 years. He was also the Globe's assistant sports editor for 25 years and the paper's sports media columnist.
In the garage (over the years): 1956 T-Bird, 1959 Nash Metropolitan, 1980 El Camino, 1997 supercharged Camry TRD.
