Seat belt crackdown

Posted at 2:36 PM on October 11, 2008 by Bob Collins
Filed under: Crime and Justice

The Minnesota State Patrol is starting a crackdown on seat belt use, according to a story today on MPR.

There is one clarification needed. In Minnesota, you can't be stopped for not wearing a seat belt. The Legislature toyed with the idea of making failure to wear a seat belt a "primary offense," but the bill failed in the House last May.

However, if you're stopped for some other infraction -- and how difficult is it to stop you for some other "infraction"? -- you can be charged with violating the law if you're not wearing a seat belt.

One of the exceptions? If you're driving a car in reverse, you don't need a seat belt.

The bottom line. It's the law that you have to wear a seat belt, but you can't be penalized unless you are stopped for another reason.

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