By Steve Thomas Observer Nevis Editor
(Basseterre, St. Kitts) ” Federation lawmakers next week will consider a bill that would require most people to wear a seat belt while traveling in a vehicle. Minister of Public Works, Utilities, Posts and Transport, Dr. the Hon. Earl Asim Martin, introduced the bill last week and it will be among the measures considered when the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly meets on Tuesday, Nov. 15, at 11 a.m. The proposal would make it mandatory for the driver and front seat passengers of vehicles to wear seat belts. In addition, a passenger under the age of 12 or weighing less than 40 pounds would be required to wear a seat belt or “restrained in a specially designed detachable or removable seat,” according to a press release from the Communications Unit of the Office of the Prime Minister. Violation of the proposed seat belt law would could result in a fine of EC$100 for the first offence and EC$200 for a second or subsequent offence. Motor vehicles manufactured before January 1st 1990, buses, authorized emergency vehicles and trucks with a maximum gross weight of 18,000 pounds or more are excluded, according to CUOPOM. The seat belt clause is part of the Amendments to the Vehicles and Road Traffic Act. In the United States, there is no federal law mandating the wearing of seat belts. However, many states and municipalities have laws that do require using the devices. According to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, seat belts save lives, reduce injuries and the cost to the public of paying for those hurt in car accidents. “Seat belts can reduce the risk of death for front seat occupants of passenger cars by 45%. Similarly, belt use reduces the risk of serious non-fatal injuries by 50% for front-seat occupants of passenger cars. Belts are associated with a 65% decreased risk of injury while in light trucks (SUVs, minivans and pickup trucks)” according the NHTSA. “The odds of being killed in a motor vehicle crash are three times higher at night, which is when seat belt use declines substantially.” The NHTSA study found that in 2005, more than 15,000 passenger vehicle occupants died in traffic crashes between the nighttime hours of 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m., and nearly two-thirds of those killed were not wearing their seat belts at the time of the crash. Additional NHTSA survey data indicate that nighttime seat belt use is often 10 percent lower than the nation-wide average 82 percent daytime belt use. Another piece of legislation that will be set before the assembly is the Noise Abatement Bill. According to CUOPM, “if it becomes law, a person will not be allowed to create noise in a manner that the sound is audible beyond a distance of one hundred meters from the source of the sound and is reasonably capable of causing annoyance to persons in the vicinity. Where the sound is audible beyond one hundred meters in the vicinity of any school, church, hospital, nursing home, infirmary, dwelling house, hotel or guest house, the sound shall be presumed to cause annoyance to persons in that vicinity.Under this clause, one may be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding 300 dollars and in the case of a subsequent offence to a fine not exceeding six hundred dollars or in default of a payment to a term of imprisonment not exceeding three months. Copies of bills are available at the St. Kitts and Nevis Information Service (SKNIS), Government Headquarters, Church Street, in Basseterre. The bills are also available on the Prime Minister’s Website at www.cuopm.com/bills.asp.
