I haven't written much about safety or health issues in my
columns and pledged earlier that these areas would get more
attention this year. I have to admit that I wasn't a strong
advocate of the seat belt laws when they were first introduced.
Like most of us who are over 40, we grew up without them and
when we were forced to begin buckling up it was a hard habit to
learn. But, like any habit, when done enough you do it without
giving it a second thought. I have only received one ticket and
that was about 12 years ago when one of my sons was not buckled
up and we drove by an officer while living in Pendleton, Ore. I
learned my lesson from that experience, but the real lessons
around seat belts have been the multitude of accidents I have
covered or come across where the lack of seat belt usage was the
leading cause of death. A recent survey in 10 of Utah's rural
counties shows that 57.9 percent of motorists wear their safety
belts. This rate is significantly lower than the safety belt use
rate observed in Utah'