Member Profile

One of three co-chairs for the Idaho Seat Belt Coalition, Dave Carlson has been advocate for traffic safety in the Gem State for the past 18 years. A native Idahoan, Dave is Director of Public and Government Affairs for AAA Idaho. He serves in several capacities for AAA Idaho, including media spokesman, lobbyist and editor for the 90-thousand member organization.

Dave went to work for AAA Idaho in 1989, three years after his organization lobbied for legislation that resulted in Idaho's original seat belt law. Since then, he's worked to educate motorists about the benefits of buckling up, and he's lobbied to strengthen the existing law, whose $10 fine is tied for lowest in the country. He helped strengthen the provisions of the child safety seat law several years ago, with legislation brought by a coalition of interested parties.

He represents AAA's interests at the local, state and federal level. He enjoys the diversity of a job that allows him to speak to children regarding bicycle safety one day and senior drivers the next. He led efforts to improve Idaho's teen driver licensing laws, and he has worked to educate the public about the dangers of drinking and driving. He has also testified on legislation ranging from gas prices and speed limits to truck size and weights.

"The easiest, most efficient thing we could do to save lives in this state would be to get more Idahoans to buckle up," Carlson says. "It's simple, doesn't cost anything, and the technology already exists, but some Idahoans overlook the dollars and sense part of the equation in their arguments against strengthening the law."

Carlson says Idaho should commit to whatever combination of education, enforcement and legislative action that will reduce Idaho's fatality rate which is 22 percent higher than the national average. He says one in five Idahoans do not buckle up. Unfortunately, that minority accounts for 61 percent of the people killed in traffic crashes.

A new analysis by Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center in Seattle shows that an additional 971 occupants were admitted to Idaho hospitals and nearly 12,000 required emergency room care simply because they did not buckle up. Unbuckled crashes cost Idaho state budgets an additional $9.1 million every year, according to the analysis.

Crashes involving unbelted Idahoans claimed 116 lives in 2006 and cost $543 million in comprehensive costs. If Idahoans choose to disobey the law, the rest of us shouldn't have to pick up the tab, he says. But currently, 85 percent of the costs resulting from unbelted crashes are being picked up not by the those who break the law, but by those who obey it.

AA has been working to improve safety on our roads for more than a century. In addition, the organization works closely with its non-profit AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety to identify traffic safety problems, foster research that seeks solutions, and disseminate information and educational materials. The Foundation is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year.