ATLANTA (AP) — The way some Georgians see it, if they're going to get thrown through the windshield of a pickup truck, that's nobody's business but their own.

That kind of thinking helps explain why Georgia is the only state that specifically exempts adults in pickups from having to wear seat belts.

The fight over seat belts is waged just about every year in the Georgia Legislature. But there's hope that this year could be different. No fewer than three House bills to require seat belts in pickups are pending, and the Senate has adopted its own measure.

"This is the year it should pass," said Sen. Don Thomas, a physician from the carpet-mill town of Dalton who sponsored one of the bills. "It's embarrassing. Instead of making our state look tough, it makes us look foolish."

There's little doubt that the laws could prevent many deaths and hundreds of injuries each year. They could also save millions in medical costs, and help the state secure more federal highway money.

There are no known lobbyists lined up against the effort. And insurance companies, safety groups and auto associations lined up in favor of such legislation. But attempts to pass tougher seat belt laws here have been blocked for years by lawmakers — particularly those from rural areas — who argue that wearing seat belts is a matter of personal freedom.

"I'm a free-spirited guy. I believe that people should wear their seat belts. I just don't believe the government should tell you to," said Sen. Jeff Mullis, a Republican from the small town of Chickamauga. "That's how I usually vote on these issues — anti-Big Brother."

Phil Burrell, a 34-year-old pickup truck driver who lives in Sylvester, population 6,000, said, "We got enough laws on the books for law enforcement to enforce, and the seat belt law is another way to tack on something." He said he would abide by such a law if it passed, but he is not sure it would make him safer.

"When the Good Lord calls me home," he said, "a seat belt ain't gonna stop it."

Indiana used to be aligned with Georgia on the pickup seat belts question. But that state enacted a law last year requiring seat belts in trucks after lawmakers agreed also to block police from using checkpoints to enforce seat belt compliance.

New Hampshire still has no seat belt requirement for adults.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, seat belts in pickups help reduce deaths by 60 percent, and about seven in 10 people who died in crashes involving pickups were not wearing a seat belt.

In Georgia alone, the American Automobile Association estimates that at least 20 lives could be saved and 400 serious injuries prevented every year if the state required seat belts in pickup trucks.

The federal government has long tied highway money to seat belt restrictions. Georgia missed out on $20.7 million that was available under a 2005 federal highway law because it failed to change its law. And AAA estimates the state could save $17 million in medical costs over 10 years by changing the seat belt law.

Ultimately, Georgia's changing demographics could decide the issue. As metropolitan Atlanta continues to swell with people from other states, rural resistance to seat belt laws could be diluted.

"It may be a reflection of a state that doesn't want to admit, ultimately, that it's not what it once was," said Char Miller, director of urban studies at Trinity University in San Antonio. "This is a last gasp. And I don't imagine it will last very long."

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By GREG BLUESTEIN

Copyright © 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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