Does my state have a primary enforcement law for seat belts?

A:

Primary enforcement laws allow police officers to pull over and ticket drivers who are not wearing seatbelts without requiring any other traffic citation.  The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that primary enforcement laws increase safety belt use by 11%.  This increase, nationwide, can save billions of dollars annually. 

Here's a list of the states that we practice in that have primary enforcement laws:

- South Carolina

- North Carolina

- District of Columbia

- Maryland

Virginia and West Virginia are still secondary enforcement states.  This means that the police officer must witness another traffic violation before he may pull you over for not wearing a seatbelt.

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