Let's get this passed!!!!!!!

[CarSeatJunkie]

IMPORTANT - ACTION REQUESTED!!!Greetings!  This is a brief status report and a call to action on primary seat belt legislation.  It is a long e-mail, but the Minnesota Seat Belt Coalition hopes you'll read it all the way through and then contact your legislator!Status Report:  On the Senate side, the primary seat belt provision is included in SF 3223, a transportation omnibus policy bill which is ready for floor action.  Based on past votes, we believe that the Senate will continue to support upgrading Minnesota's seat belt law to universal primary enforcement.  The House is a bit more challenging.  Our bill stalled in the Public Safety & Civil Justice Committee and so we are working on other strategies to move the issue forward in the House and to persuade a majority of House members to support primary when/if they are asked to vote on it.Action Request:  The Minnesota Seat Belt Coalition is asking you to help us see primary seat belt enforcement become a law.  We're working to be sure that legislators hear from LOTS of their constituents that Minnesotans want them to pass a primary seat belt law.  Here's what you can do: 

• As an individual, please contact your legislators (with a priority on contacting House members) to tell them that you support upgrading Minnesota's seat belt law to primary enforcement and to ask them to vote to support it when the measure comes to them.  Send an e-mail or call to talk with them or leave them a message.  Tell them you are a constituent, that you support upgrading Minnesota's seat belt use law to universal primary enforcement - covering everybody, every seat, every time and letting law enforcement officers enforce violation of the seat belt use law as a primary offense just like they do every other traffic law.  I've attached a sample letter to senators and one to representatives.  You can use those as a template for a letter or a script for a phone call, but we encourage you to put your communication in your own words.  Please note that the letters are slightly different for senators and representatives.  If you're not sure who represents you, you can click this link to get that information:  http://www.leg.state.mn.us/leg/Districtfinder.asp

 ·        If you represent an organization and can do so, please distribute this e-mail widely and ask your members or colleagues to contact their legislators with the same message. ·        Please ask friends, neighbors, relatives, co-workers, fellow students, fellow church members, etc., to do the same. We hope everyone receiving this communication will contact your legislators.  It would be helpful if you would e-mail me to let me know which legislators you have contacted and how they responded.   We'd appreciate your making legislator contacts within the next week.  I've attached several documents which might be helpful to you in making those contacts.  They are: 

• Minnesota Seat Belt Coalition Key Messages
• MSBC 2008 Traffic Crashes and Seat Belt Use Facts
• Regional fact sheets so that you can localize and personalize your communication  (legislators have been VERY receptive to these pieces)

  Note:  The regional fact sheets reflect the following counties in each region: 

• Central: Aitkin, Beltrami, Big Stone, Cass, Crow Wing, Hubbard, Kanabec, Kandiyohi, Meeker, Mille Laces, Morrison, Pope, Sherburne, Stearns, Stevens, Swift, Todd, Traverse, and Wright Northeastern: Carlton, Cook, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake, Pine, St. Louis
• Northwestern: Beltrami, Clearwater, Kittson, Lake of the Woods, Marshall, Pennington, Polk, Red Lake, Roseau
• Southeastern: Dodge, Fillmore, Freeborn, Goodhue, Houston, Mower, Olmstead, Rice, Steele, Wabasha, Winona
• Southwestern: Blue Earth, Brown, Chippewa, Cottonwood, Faribault, Jackson, Lac Qui Parle, Le Sueur, Lincoln, Lyon, McLeod, Martin, Murray, Nicollet, Nobles, Pipestone, Redwood, Renville, Rock, Sibley, Waseca, Watonwan, Yellow Medicine.
• Western: Becker, Clay, Douglas, Grant, Mahnomen, Norman, Otter Tail, Wadena, Wilkin Twin Cities: Anoka, Carver, Chisago, Dakota, Hennepin, Isanti, Ramsey, Scott, Washington

  Check out the Minnesota Seat Belt Coalition Web pages if you need additional statistics, etc:http://www.minnesotasafetycouncil.org/sbcoalition/index.cfm?L1=87&L2=0  Every contact you make with your legislators helps us move a bit closer to seeing a primary seat law enacted.   Thanks so much -  Carol A. Bufton, CoordinatorMinnesota Seat Belt Coalition PresidentMinnesota Safety Council474 Concordia AvenueSt. Paul MN 55103651-228-7304, FAX [phone]  Please be sure to buckle up - everybody, every seat, every time!

[MommyBoha]

Apr. 16, 2008 at 3:09 PM If I lived in MN...I'd be all over it.

[RanaAurora]

Apr. 16, 2008 at 4:52 PM Same!  Too bad I'm not in MN.