Law allowing police to stop and ticket a driver for non-use of safety belt without requiring that the driver commit or be cited for another offense.

Overview

Seat belts save lives. For every percentage point the national seat belt usage rate increases, an additional 280 lives are saved per year. (Runge, 2003)  Every state but New Hampshire requires its citizens to wear seat belts. Unfortunately, over half of US states have secondary enforcement laws, meaning that a law enforcement officer has to pull someone over for a different violation and only then is able to write an additional citation for a seat belt violation. This means that officers can pull someone over for a broken taillight, but they can't pull someone over for failing to use the most important piece of safety equipment in the car – the seat belt.

MADD wants to change this because your best defense against a drunk driver is to wear your seat belt. Studies have found that states that pass a primary seat belt law increase average seat belt usage by nine to 14 percentage points. (numerous studies below)  This, in turn, decreases crash fatalities by an average of eight percent (numerous studies below) and decreases the severity of injuries in crashes. (Houston, 1996)  The increase is especially pronounced among teen drivers, who are the most likely to be involved in crashes and the least likely to wear seat belts. (McCartt and Northrup, 2004)

Some argue that they should be able to choose not to wear a seat belt. However, seat belt use is the law already. Additionally, the decision to wear a seat belt affects those too young to make a conscious choice. Adults who do not buckle up are sending a message to children that it is all right not to use seat belts—the probability of a fatally injured child being unrestrained is more than twice as likely when the adult driving was unrestrained. (Starnes, 2003)

Also, 85 percent of the costs of crashes are borne by society, not by the individuals in the crash. (NHTSA, 2003)Considering that a crash costs 55 percent more when a crash victim is unbelted, we have a financial imperative to enact primary seat belt laws, in addition to the moral and ethical imperatives.

Take Action

There are still 21 states that do not have a primary enforcement seat belt law: Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming. If you are from one of these states, contact your state representatives to urge them to pass a primary seat belt law.

Related Issues

Click It or Ticket  

Resources

• Official Position Statement
• Studies
  • CDC Community Guide. "Effectiveness of Primary versus Secondary Safety Belt Use Laws," 2001.
  • Dinh-Zarr, Bella, et al. "Reviews of Evidence Regarding Interventions to Increase the Use of Safety Belts." American Journal of Preventive Medicine 21 vol. 4S (2001): 48-65.
  • Glassbrenner, Donna. "Safety Belt and Helmet Use in 2002 – Overall Results." DOT HS 809 500. Washington DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, September 2002.
  • Houston, David, Lilliard Richardson, and Grant Neeley. "Legislating Traffic Safety: A Pooled Time Series Analysis." Social Science Quarterly 76 (1995): 328-45.
  • Houston, David, Lilliard Richardson, and Grant Neeley. "Mandatory Seat Belt Laws in the States: A Study of Fatal and Severe Occupant Injuries." Evaluation Review 20 (1996): 146-59. 
  • Lange, JE, and Robert Voas. "Nighttime Observations of Safety Belt Use: An Evaluation of California's Primary Law." American Journal of Public Health 88 (1998): 1718-20.
  • McCartt, Anne and Veronika Northrup.  "Factors Related to Seat Belt Use among Fatally Injured Teenage Drivers."  Journal of Safety Research 35 (2004). 29-38.
  • National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. "Process and Outcome Evaluation of the Buckle Up America Initiatives." DOT HS 809 272. Washington DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, May 2001.
  • Preusser DF and CW Preusser. "Evaluation of Louisiana's Safety Belt Law Change to Primary Enforcement." DOT HS 808 620. Washington DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1997.
  • Solomon, Mark and William Nissen. "Evaluation of Maryland, Oklahoma, and the District of Columbia's Seat Belt Law Change to Primary Enforcement." DOT HS 808 324. Washington DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2000.
  • Starnes, Marc. "The Relationship Between Driver and Child Passenger Restraint Use Among Fatally Injured Child Passengers Age 0 – 15." NCSA Research Note. DOT HS 809 558. Washington DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, March 2003.
  • Ulmer RG, et al. "Evaluation of California's Safety Belt Law Change from Secondary to Primary Enforcement." Journal of Safety Research 26 (1995): 213-20.
  • Winnicki, John. "Safety Belt Use Laws: Evaluation of Primary Enforcement and Other Provisions." DOT HS 808 324. Washington DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 1995.
• Fact Sheets
  • MADD's TEA-21 Reauthorization Plan (PDF)
  • MADD's Impaired Driving Summit Report (PDF)
  • National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. "Strengthening Seat Belt Use Laws – Increase Belt Use, Decrease Crash Fatalities and Injuries." Washington DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, May 2003.
  • National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. "Traffic Safety Facts 2002: Occupant Protection" DOT 809 610. Washington DC: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2003. (Click here) 

 

 

 

 

States with this law
Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Washington D.C., Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, Wisconsin