Don't bet against this.
Wisconsin could reap a federal windfall of about $15 million - and maybe up to $20 million - if state law is changed by July 1 to let officers stop vehicles when they suspect drivers or passengers aren't wearing seat belts.
Wisconsin will go all-Nazi-all-the-time, for $20 million. It's Doyle's nature, and Risser's.
Natch, there's a "study":
The change would save up to 73 lives a year in Wisconsin, according to the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute. In a 2006 report, the institute also estimated that the change would save about $220 million a year in accident-related costs
...all depends on the meaning of "up to", I guess. Just ONE is entirely possible.
And for the most inane comment, call MADD.
The change is also a priority of the Wisconsin chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
"Seat belts save lives, and it is your only defense against a drunk driver," said Kari Kinnard, director of the Wisconsin branch of MADD.
Must be so. It's in the newspaper.
HT: FoxPolitics
This would make the informal policy official.
ReplyDelete$20M is not big money, DOT wise. What is that, another $10 on the title registration? Or to put it another way, using their numbers, it costs $275,000 to save one life, at least the cost to the feddies. If the goal is saving lives, there are better things to spend $20M on.