Highway Safety Advocates Urge Nebraska to Tighten Slack Seat Belt Law

Highway safety advocates are urging Nebraska lawmakers to tighten state seat belt requirements that are among the loosest in the nation.

Nebraska is one of nine states that only require seat belts for front-seat passengers, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Violations are also considered a secondary offense, meaning police can’t cite someone for not wearing a seat belt unless they’ve stopped the vehicle for some other reason.

Sen. Robert Hilkemann, of Omaha, presented a legislative committee with a bill that would require all vehicle passengers to wear seat belts. Hilkemann said state officials are sending a mixed message with public information campaigns urging seat belt usage while allowing back-seat passengers to ride without one.

“The science of seat belts is definitive,” Hilkemann said in testimony to the Transportation and Telecommunications Committee. “You’re safer in a seat belt when riding in a motor vehicle. It can be a matter of life and death.”

Nebraska logged 248 traffic deaths in 2019, and 63% of those who died were in crashes without seat belts, said Eric Koeppe, president of the National Safety Council’s Nebraska chapter.

Koeppe said his group estimated than 79.7% of Nebraska vehicle passengers wore seat belts in 2019, compared to 90% nationally.

“Seat belt use by the back seat passenger is extremely important” and combats the misperception that riding in the backseat is safer than riding up front, Koeppe said.

Lawmakers also considered a proposal from Hilkemann that would bar drivers from using cell phones, except for hands-free devices. Hilkemann said he sees little difference in texting while driving, which is illegal in Nebraska, and dialing a number while driving. He said blue tooth headsets and voice-command phones have largely eliminated the need for looking at a phone screen when behind the wheel.

Hilkemann said 23 states and the District of Columbia have already passed laws to require hands-free sets when driving. If the Nebraska bill passes, violating the law would remain a secondary offense.

“It’s a simple and significant message,” he said. “Don’t hold your phone in your hands when you’re behind the wheel.”

Robert Bell, executive director of the Nebraska Insurance Federation, said the insurers he represents have noticed a recent increase in distracted-driving crashes in Nebraska, resulting in more injuries and property damage.

Lawmakers also considered a measure by Sen. Steve Halloran, of Hastings, that would require motorists to turn on their headlights anytime their windshield wipers are running continuously.

Committee members took no immediate action on the bills.