MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
WILLARD POLICE SERGEANT BLAINE KENNARD WAS FIRST ON THE SCENE OF A DOUBLE FATALITY TRAFFIC ACCIDENT LAST SUMMER.
"Kinnard - As I arrived on the scene, there were two bodies lying on the shoulder of the road, the truck was in the ditch ... probably one of the worst accidents I've ever seen."
KENNARD SAYS THE CRASH COMPELLED HIM TO TRY TO GET A LAW PASSED TO KEEP KIDS FROM RIDING IN THE BACK OF A TRUCK.
Sen. Bentley "We protect furniture in the law, or heavy items in the back of pickups, but people, no."
BENTLEY SPONSORS A BILL TO PROHIBIT MINORS FROM RIDING IN THE BACK OF PICKUPS.
Sen. Bentley - "Children need the protection of the law. And even parents, I've heard them say, well, it's not against the law so it must be safe."
BUT THESE KINDS OF EFFORTS HAVE RUN INTO STRONG OPPOSITION FROM THOSE AREAS OF THE STATE WHERE PICKUPS RULE SUPREME.
KL - "Do you contend the notion that riding in the back is dangerous?" Sen. Rohrbach - "It's more dangerous than riding in the front of the truck. Is it more dangerous than riding a sled or a horse, not necessarily."
IN MISSOURI, ONE HUNDRED AND SEVEN PEOPLE WERE KILLED OR INJURED RIDING IN THE BACKS OF PICKUP TRUCKS IN 1995.
BUT THAT'S ONLY A TINY PORTION OF THE FIFTY-TWO THOUSAND TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS THAT OCCUR IN THE STATE.
ROHRBACH ARGUES THE STATE IS TRYING TO BE A SUBSTITUTE PARENT.
KL "Is there a part of you that says you should make the decision, not the government?
Rick Simpson "I should make the decision, not the government. It should be up to the parent, not the government."
SERGEANT KENNARD SAYS SOMETIMES THE LAW IS INTRUSIVE FOR GOOD REASON.
"I went from sad to angry that we don't have something to keep them out of the back of the truck, there isn't a law. Those fatalities didn't need to happen."
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