A sad reminder
The Idaho Seat Belt Coalition hopes a sobering display of 126 pairs of empty shoes will spur tougher seat belt laws.
Cowboy boots, work boots, high heels, sandals and sneakers represent the lives lost in Idaho traffic crashes in 2005. The shoes covered tabletops and were displayed side-by-side on the floor at a Monday morning news conference in Coeur d’Alene.
Representatives for the coalition said the state’s seat belt law – among the most lax in the country – has made Idaho ineligible for federal money used to teach about seat belt safety.
“Idaho is experiencing too much loss,” said Mary Hunter of the Idaho Transportation Department’s Office of Traffic and Highway Safety. “We’re losing lives, we’re wasting money and Idaho is losing its ability to address this problem.”
The coalition is touring the state with the shoes this week, urging citizens to contact their legislators in support of tougher laws. On Wednesday, the shoes will be displayed on the Capitol steps.
Kootenai County Sheriff’s Capt. Ben Wolfinger co-chairs the coalition, which includes representatives from law enforcement and other government agencies, along with the medical and insurance industries.
He said law enforcement agencies are still conducting safety patrols and trying to educate people about seat belt use, but much of the funding for those efforts came from federal grants for which Idaho is now ineligible.
Idaho’s seat belt law is a secondary offense, meaning officers can’t pull over a driver simply for not wearing a belt.
A driver or passenger ticketed for not buckling up is fined $10.
Coeur d’Alene Police Officer Nick Knoll said the state should make the seat belt law a primary offense and increase the fine.
He said a $10 ticket – which doesn’t affect a person’s driving record – is hardly a deterrent.
Bonner County Sheriff’s employee Sally Mitchell hopes her story will make people think twice about buckling up.
Her 14-year-old daughter, Holly Peterson, wasn’t wearing a seat belt when she was killed in an August 2002 crash in Bonner County.
The teen was riding in the back seat of a friend’s SUV when the driver cut a corner short and the vehicle slid out of control and flipped.
Holly was thrown through the sunroof and hit her head on a rock.
Mitchell said she was at work when her supervisor came in and told her that Holly had been killed.
“I’ll never forget that day,” Mitchell said, crying. “I dropped to my knees.”
She urges people to slow down and wear their seat belts.
“I’m here today talking about this tragedy and I wish I wasn’t,” she said.