State v. Batsch
| Decision Date | 07 March 1988 |
| Docket Number | No. 1790,1790 |
| Citation | 44 Ohio App.3d 81,541 N.E.2d 475 |
| Parties | The STATE of Ohio, Appellee, v. BATSCH, Appellant. |
| Court | Ohio Court of Appeals |
Syllabus by the Court
R.C. 4513.263, the statute requiring drivers to wear seat belts, is constitutional.
John J. Plough, Pros. Atty., and Kevin T. Poland, Ravenna, for appellee.
R.J. Kane, Ravenna, for appellant.
On July 5, 1986, Kelly L. Batsch, appellant, was clocked by aircraft eastbound on Interstate 76 at seventy-seven miles per hour in a posted fifty-five-miles-per-hour speed zone. He was flagged over by Trooper Thomas P. Esenwein. He slowed down but continued driving. A second trooper, Phillip T. Shaeffer, pursued appellant and stopped him. Trooper Shaeffer observed that appellant did not have his seat belt buckled.
Appellant was charged with exceeding the speed limit, failure to comply with a lawful order and failure to wear a seat belt. At trial, appellant filed a motion to dismiss the seat belt charge, contending R.C. 4513.263, the seat belt law, is unconstitutional. The court found R.C. 4513.263 constitutional and overruled the motion to dismiss. On July 30, 1986, appellant was found guilty of failing to comply with a lawful order and failure to wear a seat belt, but was found not guilty of exceeding the speed limit.
Appellant has appealed the judgment of the trial court and has filed the following two assignments of error:
Appellant first contends that the court erred in not holding R.C. 4513.263 to be unconstitutional. He argues that the statute is an unreasonable extension of the police power and violates the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution. He cites State v. Betts (M.C.1969), 21 Ohio Misc. 175, 252 N.E.2d 866, a case declaring R.C. 4511.53, the motorcycle helmet law, unconstitutional because it was an unreasonable extension of police power, compelling behavior by an individual that will benefit the individual alone and not the public good. Appellant argues the same reasoning should apply to R.C. 4513.263.
Legislation promoting the state's interest in protecting the health, safety and welfare of its citizens is a proper exercise...
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State v. Bontrager
...N.E.2d 363. Examples of valid uses of the state's police powers include requiring car drivers to wear seat belts, State v. Batsch (1988), 44 Ohio App.3d 81, 541 N.E.2d 475, and requiring Amish builders to conform with State Building Code regulations to protect the health and safety of the o......
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State v. Varsel
...in his or her ears which may restrict his or her ability to hear while operating a motor vehicle. See, e.g., State v. Batsch, 44 Ohio App.3d 81, 82, 541 N.E.2d 475 (11th Dist.1988); State v. Stouffer, 28 Ohio App.2d 229, 233, 276 N.E.2d 651 (10th Dist.1971). {¶ 32} We find Varsel's fourth a......
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State v. Randall J. Bigley
...that Defendant has waived his constitutional challenge, we note that R.C. 4513.263 has been deemed constitutional. See State v. Batsch (1988), 44 Ohio App.3d 81, 82 (concluding that R.C. 4513.263 is not an extension of the state's police power and, thus, the statute is constitutional); Stat......
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State v. Samuel Bontrager
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