WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (WAVY) — A Williamsburg mother hopes lawmakers in Richmond won’t take a back seat as she pushes for changes to Virginia’s current seat belt law.
Christy King said her 18-year-old son Christopher wasn’t wearing his seatbelt when he was killed in a crash nearly five years ago.
On July 4, 2020, James City County Police and JCC Fire and Rescue responded to a crash on Marclay Road. According to police, a 19-year-old man was driving a Ford Mustang convertible with four people in the car at a high rate of speed with the top down when he lost control at a curve. The vehicle then hit a ditch, ejecting a passenger. The passenger, Christopher, died at the scene.
“His favorite sweatshirt still hangs by the front door,” Christy King said. “I can’t take it down, just hoping that one day he’ll come back to the door. He was the only one that was killed because he didn’t have a seat belt on.”
She said her son had dreams of becoming a chef or an EMT. She took her tragedy and decided to make a difference.
She started the Christopher King Foundation, which helps educate high schoolers about the importance of making good decisions when they’re out on the road.
“Virginia is the worst state in the country right now for seat belt usage,” King said. “We are at 73% usage, and the national average is 91%.”
She believes these numbers are because Virginia is a secondary state. This means law enforcement can only issue a ticket for those not wearing a seat belt if there is another citable traffic infraction, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association.
Virginia law also only requires front seat passengers to wear their seat belts.
“We have to take our seat belt law more seriously,” King said.
She has met with lawmakers hoping to strengthen the current law in the Commonwealth.
Now, a recently introduced bill, if passed, would require every passenger in a vehicle to wear a seatbelt.
“It’s a good start, but we definitely need to do more to get our rates up,” King said.
King said the bill will likely get a hearing next week. She plans to testify and share Christopher’s story.
“This is the first step in strengthening our seat belt law,” King said, “and I will not stop until it becomes a primary law. So if it doesn’t go through this year, they will see me year after year after year.”
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