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HB 0383, AN ACT relative to passenger restraints
Message from Elaine Frank, Injury Prevention Center
Unfortunately we ran out of time and the political will to pass a Seat Belt Law again this year! I know that many of you share my frustration with this.
We did make progress this time around – we got the support of the leadership in both houses; we engaged a much broader and deeper Coalition; we had positive media attention and great input on blogs, Letters to the Editor from people we don’t even know; and, I believe, we convinced many that the decision NOT to use a seat belt has implications far beyond the individual’s choice and that preventing brain injuries should be everyone’s objective!
A special thanks to Sally Kelly, our Prime Sponsor, who took far more heat and put in far more hours than she every would have expected – and managed to laugh almost every day!
We will continue our work at keeping the facts and the importance of this issue in the forefront. And doing what we can, every day, to get NH buckled up!
 
Message from Ellen Edgerly, Brain Injury Association of New Hampshire
I am sorry to share with all of you that HB 0383, AN ACT relative to passenger restraints, was voted down on the Senate Floor on April 29, 2009. I am very disappointed that our senators could not support such a worthwhile piece of brain injury prevention as this.
Unfortunately the legislative process can be very long, tedious and disappointing at times. It can also be very exciting when legislation is passed in knowing that "we" as citizens of our great State of New Hampshire have impacted the legislative process through our experiences and challenges of brain injury!
As I have told all of you over the years that often it takes numerous attempts before we are able to educate and be successful in passing good Brain Injury Public Policy for the citizens of New Hampshire. Our past legislative experiences have proven that for us to be successful that we need to continue to go back to the legislature to let our voices be heard!
As a representative of the Brain Injury Association of New Hampshire when I go out in the community and talk about survivors and their families I use the description of perseverance - "to persist in anything undertaken in spite of difficulty or obstacles". I will then proceed to say that this definition is true to our community.
Thank you for taking the time to write letters to legislators, making telephone calls to legislators, to attend public legislative hearings, write letters to the editor of your newspapers, talk on radio programs and to be allowed to be personally interviewed. I realize that at times it is not easy to put yourself out in the eye of the public and share your personal stories but you still continue to do so.
In closing, the vote did not turn out the way that we would have wanted it to. Keep in mind that we could not have done anything different to change the vote. We provided the brain injury facts and statistics along with the personal experiences and challenges from the perspective of survivors and families. If anything, we continue to educate the legislators of New Hampshire about brain injury.
The senators stated that they heard from a lot of individuals who opposed this bill and also from a lot of individuals who supported the bill. Next time when we speak in front of the legislature, let’s change the message of brain Injury of being a “silent epidemic” and from now on let your voices be heard.
A special acknowledgement to Lead Sponsor Sally Kelly and Sponsors Rep. Peter Bergin, Rep. Harding, Rep. Ingersoll, Rep. Jennifer Brown, Sen. Martha Fuller Clark, Sen. Harold Janeway, Sen. Molly Kelly for their work and commitment in supporting individuals with brain injuries and their families.
Thank you for all of your help and I look forward to working with all of you in the future.
 
Please visit this link to Room to Live - a powerful video showing that in vehicles where someone was ejected and killed, there was Room to Live if they had remained in the passenger compartment. Watch it, share it.
 
To find out the contact information of your state senator and the towns and cities that they represent, please click here. To find out the contact information for Governor Lynch, please click here.
 
Click here for HB 0383, AN ACT Relative to Passenger Restraints Update
 
If you would like to work with the Brain Injury Association of New Hampshire on this grassroots legislative effort to pass HB 0383 into law, please contact me at (603) 332-9891.
 
2008 Seat Belt Commission Report
From September 2007 to July 2008, the Seat Belt Commission (formally the Commission to recommend a comprehensive program for increasing the use of passenger restraints in New Hampshire) worked out and completed the Seat Belt Commission Report that was distributed to the Legislature in August 2008.
 
The commission consisted of twenty three individuals including Catherine Costanzo appointed by The Brain Injury Association of New Hampshire. Catherine practices law with the Law Firm of Devine, Millimet & Branch located in Manchester and serves on the Board of the Brain Injury Association of New Hampshire and the Brain Injury Public Policy Committee.
 
The majority recommendations of the commission was that a primary seat belt law be enacted and that an adequately funded consistent, long-term commitment to public education must be an essential component of any effort to increase seat belt use whether or not an adult seat belt law is passed. The report makes a strong case that a primary seat belt law will increase the use. The report contains prevalent facts and data that supports adult seat belt legislature. Some of the facts included in the report are:
  • New Hampshire is the only state in the US that does not require those 18 and over to use their seat belts.
  • Unbelted crash victims in New Hampshire were four times more likely to be killed than those who were belted.
  • If unrestrained in a crash, a person is twice as likely to be incapacitated and 20 times more likely to be ejected. (NH Department of Safety, 1993-2000)
  • Traffic Crashes cost the Nation about $230 billion each year in medical expense, lost productivity, property damage, and related costs. New Hampshire pays over $1 billion of these costs. That is $820 for every resident of each year. (NHTSA, “The Economic Impact of Motor Vehicle Crashes, 20000”(2003)
Please click here to read the entire report.
Ellen M. Edgerly, Community Organizer
Brain Injury Association of NH
 
Please click on the following links to translate this site into the language of your choice.
© 2010 - 1998 Brain Injury Association of New Hampshire
The Brain Injury Association of New Hampshire does not support, endorse, or recommend any product, method of treatment, or program for persons with brain injury. We endeavor to inform and believe that you have the right to know what help is available. Information within these pages consists of items that may be of interest to our community.