But the lawmakers who remained quiet outnumbered the vocal supporters, voting 6-4 to kill a bill to strengthen enforcement of state's seat belt law for a fourth year in a row.
Sen. Karen Hale, D-Salt Lake City, said she would continue to try to win over lawmakers who believe wearing a seat belt should remain a personal choice for adults.
"It's unfortunate," she said. "I think lives could be saved through more enforcement."
In the past year, 282 people died on Utah roads and 208 of them either didn't wear a seat belt or were improperly restrained.
Utah's current seat belt law requires children to wear a seat belt. Adult drivers also are required to buckle up but can only be ticketed if they are stopped by police for another violation.
Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Lee Perry said a law to allow police to pull over and cite a driver only for a seat belt violation will decrease the number of people who are ejected from their cars in a crash and allow drivers to better maintain control of their vehicles in sharp turns.
For Janet Brooks, the child advocacy manager of Primary Children's Medical Center, the bill would correct "a double standard" where children must be buckled but there parents don't have to.
"We set the examples for our children," she said. "We are the role models."
The only Republican member of the committee to vote for the bill was Rep. Bud Bowman, R-Cedar City. Bowman is a former trooper who lost a son in a single car rollover accident in 1968.
