Topeka ? Seat belt use in Kansas has risen in the past decade, but law enforcement officials say stricter rules would prompt more people to buckle up.

Kansas is among 33 states with a secondary seat-belt law for adults. That means a person first must be ticketed for another offense, such as speeding, before being cited for not using a seat belt a $10 fine.

	The Kansas Highway Patrol observed overall seat-belt use for those 14 and older at the following percentages for the counties listed below: Douglas 64Johnson 69Leavenworth 65Saline 63Shawnee 63Sumner 63Wyandotte 61 Source: Kansas Department of Transportation

“When you look at other states, there is a 12-17 percent increase directly as a result of going from a secondary to a primary law,” said Lt. John Eichkorn, highway patrol spokesman.

With a primary law, a person can be stopped and ticketed simply for not wearing a seat belt.

One measure is the Kansas Department of Transportation statistics on accident victims in the state. The figures show a 16 percent increase in seat-belt usage among victims from 1991 to 2001.

In 1991, 65.1 percent of people involved in car crashes wore seat belts. Preliminary KDOT figures for 2001 show 80.7 percent of victims were buckled up.

For the same period, the number of unbelted fatalities decreased by 9.5 percentage points. In 2001 fatalities, 76 percent were unbelted, compared to 85.5 percent of fatalities in 1991.

Officials attribute increased use to greater public awareness that seat belts save lives, more than the threat of getting a ticket.

“It’s a basic common sense message and common sense appeals to Kansans,” said Patrice Pomeroy, assistant chief of KDOT’s Bureau of Traffic Safety.

“Often, it’s the difference between walking away and being carried away,” Pomeroy said.

Of people injured in 2001, 69.7 percent wore seat belts, compared to 54.5 percent of those injured in 1991.

Of those unharmed in 2001 accidents, 82.9 percent wore seat belts, compared to 67.4 percent in 1991.

A separate measure of seat belt use is KDOT’s roadside observational survey in selected counties. It showed use increased from 53 percent in 1995 to 60 percent in 2001.

“In general, you are 50 percent more likely of surviving a wreck if you are belted in,” Pomeroy said.

Life-saving roadblock

Just ask Terry Lucas of Sublette.

In April 2000, his vehicle hit another head-on as he drove from his home to Garden City on two-lane U.S. Highway 83.

“I would have gone through the windshield, there is no doubt,” Lucas said. “The seat belt and the airbag saved my life and the good Lord was looking out for me, too.”

He suffered a broken hip and was in a hospital for a month, but he was able to make it on crutches to his daughter’s high school graduation.

Lucas said he hadn’t used seat belts for some time because they “were a pain.”

Two months before the accident, state troopers had a roadblock on U.S. 83, checking for seat belt use. One trooper suggested Lucas put his on.

“He just convinced me it was the best thing I could do, and it was,” Lucas said.

Kansas already has primary laws requiring those age 4-13 to be buckled up. Everyone age 3 and younger must be in a child safety seat.

Metro drivers buckle up

The KDOT figures indicate seat-belt use among accident victims in most cases was greatest in areas with heavy traffic.

For instance, Johnson County, in the Kansas City metropolitan area, led the state with 90.1 percent usage, compared to 24.7 percent in Scott County in rural western Kansas.

Since Kansas enacted a seat-belt law in 1986, lawmakers have balked at making it a primary law. Opponents complain government has no right telling people what they should do to protect themselves.

“You don’t want government telling you what to do, but you do want government to take care of you if you can’t work and can’t support yourself,” Pomeroy said.

Another concern is law enforcement officers could use a primary seat belt law as a reason to stop people.

But Eichkorn said police officers want a primary law because many have seen the deadly outcome of not wearing one. Common causes of deaths among those not wearing a belt is being thrown from the vehicle or through the windshield.

“There is nothing worse in this job than going to a house, knocking on the door and trying to explain why a loved one has been killed in a car crash,” he said.