Va. to Drivers: Drop Dead

SOME VIRGINIA lawmakers are so callous to the carnage on the state's roads that they would rather forgo millions of dollars in federal aid than enact a meaningful seat-belt law.

That was the message earlier this month when a subcommittee of the House of Delegates rejected legislation that would have allowed police to stop and ticket a driver for being unbelted. Apparently, the panel cared nothing for the estimated annual 71 deaths that would have been prevented by the bill's enactment, or the 1,075 serious injuries, or the $236 million in medical, legal, insurance and other costs caused by unbelted drivers -- those figures come from AAA Mid-Atlantic. But the lawmakers also lost out on a $16.4 million federal grant that hinged on the seat-belt bill's passage. Even if members of the subcommittee were cold to the idea of saving lives and avoiding injury, you'd think they'd be moved by the offer of free money from Uncle Sam, especially in a year when the General Assembly is struggling to find money to fix the state's clogged roads. But no.

In fact, the House has a proven track record of indifference to public safety on the roads. In the name of safeguarding individual "privacy," delegates last year killed the state's decade-long program of red-light cameras, which provided for stricter monitoring and enforcement at high-risk intersections where drivers were in the habit of blowing through red lights. Six Northern Virginia jurisdictions plus Virginia Beach took part in the voluntary program, which was heartily endorsed by the local police, AAA, the insurance industry and accident victims' groups. But lawmakers killed it off with bogus arguments about the cameras' representing intrusive government.

In fact, the cameras were no different than radar enforcement of speed limits, which is also credited with saving lives. Red-light cameras are blamed for a somewhat higher rate of rear-end collisions caused by drivers braking suddenly at intersections when lights turn yellow. But at the same intersections they also have the effect of reducing the number of right-angle collisions, which tend to cause more damage to cars and more severe injuries. Based on the severity of injuries, federal researchers calculated that each intersection with a red-light camera saves $28,000 to $50,000 annually in medical and other costs to society.

At the moment, state Sen. Kenneth W. Stolle (R-Virginia Beach) is maneuvering to resurrect the red-light program by attaching it to major legislation for funding transportation improvements. Some in the House will no doubt resist the attempt as an affront to drivers' right to be left alone by government -- left alone to shoot through red lights and maim other drivers, we presume. With luck and deft handling, though, Mr. Stolle's scheme has a shot. It would prevent death and injury. And despite their record to the contrary, maybe some Virginia delegates might come to see that as a worthy goal.