The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that police officers have the authority to handcuff and
arrest you for driving without a seatbelt.
In the ruling, the nation’s highest court found that a Lago Vista, Texas police officer
was within his authority when he arrested Gail Atwater for not wearing her seatbelt while
driving home from soccer practice with her young children in 1997. Her children were also
not fastened in their seatbelts in Atwater’s pickup truck.
Atwater, you see, became infuriated over being handcuffed and arrested. She filed a
lawsuit, claiming her Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure
was violated when she was arrested for the seatbelt violation.
Writing the majority opinion for the court, Justice David H. Souter wrote: “We simply
cannot conclude that the Fourth Amendment, as originally understood, forbade peace
officers to arrest without a warrant for misdemeanors not amounting to or involving breach
of the peace.” Souter was joined in the 5-4 opinion by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist
and Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, and Clarence Thomas.
In writing the Supreme Court opinion, Souter noted that the arrest was a gratuitous
humiliation “imposed by a police officer who was [at best] exercising poor judgment.”
“But we have traditionally recognized that a responsible Fourth Amendment balance is not
well served by standards requiring sensitive, case-by-case determinations of government
need, lest every discretionary judgment in the field be converted into an occasion for
constitutional review,” Souter wrote.
So, the question in the final verdict for this case remains: Did the Supreme Court go to
far in allowing police officers to arrest someone for a violation which normally results
in nothing more than a fine? In short answer: Absolutely.
Okay, let’s get down to brass tacks here, folks. Many people swear by seatbelts. The fire
department and police department spin-doctors tell you that in most fatal accidents, the
survivors are the people strapped into seatbelts. But the problem I have with all the
noise from the public safety officials is that I have been at too many accident scenes.
I’ve seen one too many bodies cut out of seatbelts. The bodies were those of victims who
may have survived had they been able to free themselves from the seatbelt.
I was involved in a horrific car accident in July 1998. An elderly female driver ran a
stop sign when exiting the Interstate. During her turn onto the country road I was on, she
spotted my vehicle, about one car length from her at that point, and stopped directly in
front of me. I had already engaged the emergency brake and attempted to put the car in
reverse. My foot shoved the brake pedal through the floorboard. I turned to protect my
three children, sitting in the backseat, and all in seatbelts. The airbag exploded while I
was twisted and did severe damage to my neck and back. To this day, I suffer the result of
this woman’s idiotic and erratic driving. My family also suffers because of my injuries.
She died as the result of injuries suffered in the accident. She was fastened in her
seatbelt, as well. Do you think the police and fire departments will be showing you her
picture or telling her success story about seatbelt use? Of course not, as it would not
serve their interests.
Should seatbelt use be mandatory? To me, no, it shouldn’t be mandatory. Can seatbelts save
lives? Yes, in some cases. In other cases, well, they can also help contribute to death,
as in the case of people who are trapped in a vehicle, perhaps in rural areas, and unable
to escape a vehicle because the seatbelt locking mechanism is jammed. If they do not have
a sharp knife handy, well, they better hope and pray someone happens along and finds them
in time, or that a rescue squad arrives on the scene quickly.
Since the law, at this point, is that seatbelt use is mandatory, and the penalty for
non-compliance is a ticket, which is merely a fine, should police officers have the
authority to handcuff and arrest you for this offense? Absolutely not! Well, let’s clarify
this a little. If the driver or occupants not in seatbelts are over 18 years of age, you
know, consenting adults of sound mind, then no, there should be no harsh treatment, such
as, in this case, being shackled and arrested. Looking at the other side of this issue, if
the driver or occupants are minors, especially small children, then yes, I could side with
the court’s ruling. Children are innocent victims to many cruelties, cruelties often
visited upon them by parents, including being seriously injured, maimed, or killed in
automobile accidents as a result of seatbelts not being used. Child endangerment is wrong.
Children don’t know the reality of the dangers of sitting inside 2,000 pounds of vehicle,
let alone when two similar objects meet at 55 miles per hour or faster.
What can you do about this? Well, I haven’t a clue, but I can tell you this: If you see
those bubblegum lights dancing around in your rearview mirror, you better be wearing that
harness.
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