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Bill to strengthen teen seat belt laws
Published January 11, 2008
MONROE — State Rep. Melvin Everson (R-106) took a step toward further reducing teen vehicle deaths in Georgia yesterday by proposing a bill to toughen seat belt laws for drivers ages 15-18.
At a teen driver safety program at George Walton Academy, Everson announced his introduction of the Billy Foulke Teenage Safety Act aimed at strengthening seat belt laws in Georgia to encourage teens to develop the habit of always wearing a seat belt.
“We are losing too many 15- to 19-year-olds and the hope is the tougher laws will persuade the driver to buckle up and encourage his or her passengers to do the same,” Everson said. “Many of these teen deaths could have been avoided if they had been wearing seat belts.”
Billy Foulke was an 18-year-old Snellville teen who died in a car accident June 8, 2006 along with the driver, 17-year-old Ryan Medlock of Loganville. Both teens were ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene.
Neither was wearing a seat belt. A third back- seat passenger survived. He was the only one wearing a seat belt. Medlock and Foulke had just graduated from South Gwinnett High School and Foulke was getting ready to join the Marines.
Everson said Foulke’s mother, who spoke at the announcement, was very supportive of the bill and honored the legislation was being named after her son.
If enacted, the new bill would keep the first offence fine for a teen not wearing a seat belt at $25. However, a second offense would draw a $50 fine and a three-month suspension of the teen’s license, a third offense would draw a $75 fine and six-month suspension and a fourth offense would draw a $100 fine and one-year license suspension.
Many representatives of teen safety organizations, including Alan Deighton of New London School of Driving, former Gwinnett police officer Bill Richardson of “It Won’t Happen to Me,” Bob Dallas of the Georgia Office of Highway Safety and Pat Wilder of the National Safety Council, were invited to join the many other local and state representatives at the day-long program, which included the announcement of the bill.
According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, car accidents are the leading killer of teens. More than 6,000 teens in the United States die each year in vehicle accidents. However, research suggests more strict and comprehensive drivers licensing programs result in a 38-40 percent reduction in fatal and injury crashes.
Joshua’s Law, implemented last year to tighten permitting requirements for teens, was named after Joshua Brown, a 17-year-old Cartersville teenager who died July 9, 2003 after being severely injured in an car accident eight days earlier.
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