ATLANTA — Buckle up, Georgia. The state is poised to join the rest of the nation in requiring adults in pickup trucks to wear seat belts after years of failed attempts.

It wasn’t easy. The measure’s supporters came armed each year with frightening statistics about the number of lives that could be saved, accidents avoided and medical costs saved if Georgia ended its distinction as the last state in the nation to exempt adults in pickups from buckling up.

And each time the effort was stymied in the state House by rural lawmakers who see the rule as an unnecessary regulation.

But Tuesday, the measure sailed through the House by a 132-29 vote after supporters beat back an amendment that would have weakened the rules.

“This is a common sense measure whose time has come,” said Mickey Channell, a Greensboro Republican. “It will save lives. It will save money. And it does not cost us a dime.”

The Senate has already passed the measure and it now goes to Gov. Sonny Perdue, who has signaled he will sign the legislation.

A handful of legislators attempted to scuttle the legislation as it moved through the House, sensing it could be adopted this year.

Republican state Rep. Tim Bearden asked party leaders to schedule a debate on the 41st day of the 40-day session. A handful of lawmakers backed changes to the proposal that would have made it more difficult to enforce. Other frustrated opponents warned their colleagues that the state was overreaching.

“I don’t understand why we’re being a nanny state,” said state Rep. Tom McCall, an Elberton Republican.

Georgia lawmakers have been considering changes to the seat belt law since the late 1980s with nothing to show for it. No lobbyists are actively working against the effort, and insurance companies and auto associations have long supported the changes. But the changes were blocked for years by powerful House leaders from both parties.