By now, all states (including Tennessee) have passed mandatory seat belt laws, and casual observation may lead to the idea that they’re all the same — but a little investigation reveals several differences within those statutes. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says only 34 states and the District of Columbia carry primary legislation, meaning that law enforcement may stop a vehicle solely for a potential infraction. Elsewhere, police must have a secondary reason for detaining a motorist prior to citing him for a belt violation.
In addition, Tennessee law allows no legal provision for back-seat riders. It states that “All drivers and front-seat passengers… must have a seat belt properly fastened about their bodies at all times when the vehicle is in a forward motion.” The mandate strongly suggests that rear-seat riders buckle up as well. “Unbuckled rear-seat occupants,” the law says, “can injure buckled front-seat occupants as well as themselves when they are thrown around or out of a vehicle in a crash.”
In the case of pregnant passengers, those words are especially ominous. It behooves the mother-to-be to wear a seat belt at all times regardless of her position in the car, both amid legal implications and the fact that more than one life may hang in the balance.
As the pregnancy comes nearer to term, the inclination may be to wear the belt closer to the stomach in order to stabilize the fetus. Actually, tests show that pressure from the belt may encroach on the fetal area and that the greatest resistance gathers at the site of the lap belt in the event of a crash — so the Shelby Police Department website says that, when possible, “both the lap and shoulder belt should be worn with the lap portion low and snug on the hips beneath the baby and the shoulder belt snug and above the baby.”
Seat belt extenders are also available as the stage of pregnancy advances, enhancing the fetus’ safety and the mother’s comfort. Belly suits such as Tummy Shield also provide a measure of protection, covering the entire abdomen and mitigating the pressure from the belt during the third trimester.
“The greatest threat to the unborn child,” the Shelbyville website says, “is death or serious injury to the mother, and a seat belt will help ensure your survival in the event of a crash.”
In Tennessee, a first-time seat belt violation costs $25; second and subsequent offenses cost $50.
Ford Motor Company statistics show that every year, 170,000 U.S. car crashes involve pregnant women. The statistics don’t begin to reflect the human cost involved — such as in the case of a Tennessee woman involved in a fiery SUV/auto accident northwest of Knoxville in 2008. Miranda King, 22, lost her unborn child amid her injuries; most telling of all is that she was the only occupant in her car not wearing a seat belt.
Five people were killed in the mishap — the sixth, at eight months’ gestation, imparted the most urgent lesson of all.
