Back-seat riders will need to buckle

Adult passengers will face a $10 fine -- in July 2007 -- for not belting up. The bill is weaker than some hoped

Buckle up, everybody.

Legislators on Monday gave final approval to a measure expanding the state's seat belt law to include adults riding in the back seat of passenger cars.

The law would kick in Dec. 1. But for the first seven months -- until next July -- law enforcement officers won't issue tickets, only warnings. After that, the law straps back-seat passengers who are not wearing a seat belt with $10 penalties.

The Senate approved the bill Monday night on a 30-17 vote. The measure now goes to Gov. Mike Easley for his signature.

The approved bill is weaker than what many senators wanted. The House reduced the penalty -- the Senate had wanted $25 plus $50 for court costs -- and exempted back-seat passengers in motor homes.

And law enforcement officers will not be allowed, under the new law, to stop a car simply because rear passengers aren't belted.

Sen. Bill Purcell, a Scotland County Democrat, said in an interview that he would have preferred the stronger bill. But, he said, "we've gotten to the point where we've got to take what we've got and go."

Currently, only drivers, front-seat passengers and children younger than 16 are required to wear seat belts.

The law would serve to educate passengers that riding in the back without a seat belt can be dangerous, Purcell said.

In North Carolina over the past three years, 364 back-seat passengers -- 70 percent of them unbelted -- died in accidents, he said.

A national study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety showed that 38 percent of passengers said they consistently use seat belts while sitting in back.

Some senators said adults should be free to make their own decisions about back-seat belts without government interference.

"We continue to see an erosion of our personal freedoms," said Republican Sen. Phil Berger of Eden, the Senate's minority leader.

The law might have a rough ride to start.

"Ain't nobody going to follow it," Rajab Jones of Louisburg said Monday night. Jones, 25, who described himself as an entrepreneur, said that he is glad that children have to wear belts in the back seat but that adults should be able to choose.

Jones, who said he never wears a seat belt, said he finds the shoulder strap uncomfortable. He said he would consider wearing one if it were just a strap across his waist.

"I'm just not a big seat-belt wearer," he said.

Tim Nolan of Raleigh agrees that the law would help more North Carolinians be safe. But he is skeptical about whether people will follow it.

"Like any law, I don't think so at first," he said.

(Staff writer Sarah Ovaska contributed to this report.)