Legislative Worksheet (SBAR Format) –

How a Bill Becomes a Law

 

SITUATION: IS THIS SOMETHING THAN CAN BE LEGISLATED?

• Identify the problem/concern: There are continued cases of fatal accidents, especially involving school buses, occurring in our community every day. A close study has found out that, such vehicles do not have seat belts installed in them, and that presence of seat belts reduces the magnitude of the accidents.
• State your proposal/idea: I firmly propose passing into law a bill requiring that, all vehicles have seat belts installed at least in the front seats.

BACKGROUND: DO YOUR RESEARCH

• Include studies, reports, personal experience, or anecdotal stories related to your proposal: I have been working with the emergency room of at local hospital in Texas for a while. Although, I have handled various cases of fatal accidents, the one I handled recently was quite horrible considering that it involved young children. These two children were injured when their school bus driver applied brakes suddenly to avoid collision with another vehicle. It is quite evident that the children could not have been injured if they had belted up, but unfortunately, the school bus had no seat belts installed. Indeed, research has it that, seatbelts help reduce such fatalities by a significant magnitude (Dissanayake & Parikh, 2011; “North Dakota Seat Belt Defense,” 2011; Daly, 2013). Further, in my investigation, I found out that such avoidable humanly accidental causes are just a trend in Texas especially the community I serve as a nurse. I am confidently aware that, recently, the Texas legislature failed to pass a bill requiring seat belt installation in all vehicles. However, all of us are aware that the Congress passed the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1973 that requires installation in all vehicles to avoid “social and economic losses incurred by auto accidents” (“North Dakota Seat Belt Defense,” 2011, p. 146). As such, it is my firm stand that, to avoid such accidental losses especially to our schoolchildren, the legislature should pass the bill requiring all vehicles to have seat belts installed at least in the fronts seats.
• Has there been similar legislation introduced and/or passed in other states? If so, include it: Some states already have the seat belt law in place. For instance, Georgia, Minnesota, and South highly embrace the seat belt law, even referring to it in court on cases involving vehicle accidents (Daly, 2013; “North Dakota Seat Belt Defense,” 2011).

ASSESSMENT: FINANCES AND STAKEHOLDERS

• Identify financial impact if any: Pushing such a bill into law will have various financial implications. Notably, the defendants will not have to bear costs that could have been avoided if the plaintiff belted up (Daly, 2013). Additionally, a great deal of social and economic losses could accrue due to reduced accidents of the avoidable humanly causes (“North Dakota Seat Belt Defense,” 2011). Ideally, the financial implications of passing the bill into law are in light of positive outcomes.
• Identify stakeholder groups that would support this bill: Various stakeholder groups support this bill. Specifically, the Parents and Teachers’ Association of the school whose students were injured has great interest. I have also collected over 2, 000 signatures of registered voters from my district who are in support of this bill. Therefore, I do not have doubts concerning the support of this bill.
• Identify people/groups that would oppose this bill: I know some individuals and or groups will oppose this bill. Notably, the vehicle owners may go on rampage considering the costs that they will incur in the seatbelt installation. Others may also argue that the bill only addresses one cause of accidents. What I can tell such a people is that the financial implications of seat belt installations are quite cheap, and that other laws have already addressed other causes of accidents as drinking and driving, and over speeding.

RECOMMENDATION

• Make an appointment with your legislator to discuss your proposal: I am hereby seeking an appointment with you, as my legislature representative, to discuss an urgent matter relating to a bill requiring that, all vehicles be installed with seat belts. This is to address the avoidable humanly causes of accidents that cause losses to many people, including schoolchildren, in our own district.

References

Daly, J. E. (2013). Seat-belt defense in Georgia. Mercer Law Review, 65, 20-40.

Dissanayake, S., & Parikh, A. (2011). Self-reported behavior, perceptions, and attitudes of drivers regarding seat belt use: Descriptive study. Advances in Transportation Studies: International Journal, 5-16. DOI 10.4399/97888548465861

North Dakota’s Seat Belt Defense (2011). North Dakota’s Seat Belt Defense: Time for North Dakota to statutorily adopt the doctrine of avoidable consequences. North Dakota Law Review, 87, 139-165.

 

 

 

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