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SALT LAKE CITY — During the 2014 legislative session, Sen. Luz Robles will try again to pass a law to get us all to buckle up. Senate Bill 128 would make it a primary offense not to wear a seat belt on roads with 55 mph speed limits and faster.
A similar measure failed during the 2013 legislative session. But one Utah family knows firsthand how that simple behavior can save lives.
"For a split moment, my life passed before my eyes because my entire family was right there with me," said Michael Barney, a husband and father of three girls.
About a year ago, the Barney family was coming home from a weekend out of town when they crossed the bridge deck at 3900 South on I-215 on the east side. Their lives were literally turned upside down, but they all survived because they all made the right choice.
"All of us wore our seat belts, and all of us are here today because of that," said Barney.
It had snowed earlier in the day, but the roads looked clear. However, when their pickup crossed the bridge deck on I-215, Jodi Barney knew something was wrong.
"I looked at Mike and said, 'What are you doing?’ ” Jodi said. "He says, 'We're sliding!’ ”
"I felt the slide," said 16-year-old Kendyl. "We were upside down, and we were up again, it was really fast."
They hit the median and rolled into traffic.
"I remember my dad saying, 'Brace yourself,’ ” said 12-year-old Paige.
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Clint Leary believes he started to wear a seat belt just in time to save his life. "I didn't have time to think about nothing," he said about the crash that could have killed him last October. "It was wicked.""When we landed, I woke up and I started crying because I kinda saw blood everywhere, and I just saw my family hurt," said 9-year-old Maren.
The girls comforted each other. But Jodi was worried about her husband. The roof was smashed in, and she could not see him.
"I think I knew that he had broke his neck, but I didn't want to believe it," Jodi said of her husband.
Michael did break his neck and had surgery to take care of it. Paige needed stitches in her arm, which was badly cut and scraped in the crash. But that was it for injuries. The Barneys said they came away from the incident closer as a family and convinced that the seat belts were the reason.
"Sometimes I kind of wish I owned the world," Maren said. "So, I could just be like, everyone wear your seat belts, Yeah, just wear your seat belts."
In 2013, 71 Utahns who did not buckle up died on Utah roads. That's nearly half of all fatalities involving motor vehicles in 2013. Statewide surveys show 82 percent of Utahns regularly wear seat belts.
The Barney family hopes their close call leads all to the same habit.
"It could have been fatal had we not had our seat belts on," Jodi Barney said. "(It) absolutely could have been fatal."
A primary seat belt law would allow law enforcement to pull drivers over for simply not bucking up — no other reason needed.
More information will be posted about Senate Bill 128 after it has been voted on in the legislative session.
