As the largest U.S. automotive association and law enforcement agencies both begin campaigns to increase the use of seat belts and child restraints on minors, they're also taking aim at another culprit: state laws themselves.

        This is especially true in Ohio, which safety advocates say has one of the weakest seat-belt laws in the country. It does not require children ages 4 and older and weighing more than 40 pounds to be belted in the back seat.

        “A significant part of our effort is ensuring legislation in all 50 states is appropriately reviewed, and any existing loopholes are closed,” said Robert Darbelnet, president and chief executive officer of AAA, which Tuesday unveiled a national child safety campaign.

        AAA estimates that if current child restraint and safety belt laws are enforced and followed nationwide, 5,200 lives would be saved in the next 10 years.

        But the Florida-based organization says that number could be even higher if laws were made tougher.

        In Ohio, for example, fatalities on rural highways have declined in the last five years, but fatalities involving passengers ages 15 and under increased almost 15 percent from 1999 to 2000.

        The Ohio State Highway Patrol says 67 percent of drivers and front-seat passengers in the state use their seat belts, one reason why the patrol is beginning a “zero tolerance” campaign Monday when it comes to seat-belt violations. The campaign will run through Labor Day.

        “There is no doubt that a primary safety belt law would raise compliance, and raising compliance would mean saving more lives,” state patrol spokesman Lt. Gary Lewis said.

        Officers will issue citations whenever they find someone not wearing a seat belt in the front seat, although they can't pull someone over for seat belts alone. A primary law allows officers to pull drivers over for seat belts only.

        If an officer in Ohio sees a small child not in a restraint, however, he is permitted to make a stop.

        Kentucky and Indiana also have “secondary” seat-belt laws that do not allow officers to pull someone over just for adults who aren't strapped in. Those two states, however, have tougher child laws. Kentucky requires children 40 inches or less in height to use a child restraint and passengers of all ages to be belted in no matter where they're sitting. Indiana mandates that kids under the age of 4 use a child restraint and children ages 4-11 use at least a seat belt.

        Ohio's law has earned the state an F when it comes to child automotive-safety laws from the National Safe Kids Campaign, a Washington, D.C., advocacy group. It lists automotive accidents as the leading cause of death for kids under age 15.

        There is a bill still in committee in the Ohio General Assembly that would toughen the state's current law to require all passengers younger than age 18 to wear a seat belt no matter where they're sitting and require children between the ages of 4-8 or up to 80 pounds to use a child restraint.

        E-mail jpilcher@enquirer.com

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