KDSN RADIO News
Iowa bill mandates seat belt use by back seat passengers
Current Iowa law says children under 12, drivers, and front seat occupants of vehicles must be belted in, but an Iowa House committee may soon consider requiring that all occupants in a vehicle wear a seat belt.
Chaney Yeast, a lobbyist for Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines, spoke during a House subcommittee hearing on the bill. “Motor vehicle safety has improved over time. We know those belts are standard in all the vehicles,” Yeast said, “so we think now is the time to move forward with this.”
Yeast told lawmakers research shows back seat passengers who aren’t wearing a seat belt can be critically injured or killed in a traffic accident. “Hit something with the front of your car and the projectile that the passenger becomes, they can hit the back of the front seat,” Yeast said, “or over the back of the front seat through the windshield.”
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Association, 30 other states have mandatory seat belt laws for back seat passengers.
