To our Forum Police Officers: Click it or Ticket Campaign

[Dave]

So here in the US they are running a nation-wide campaign called "Click it or Ticket" that basically says, "Wear your seat belt or else." I'm not here to debate seat belt laws but instead want to know something about the legality of this.

In Nebraska, a police officer can't pull you over simply because you aren't wearing your seat belt. Not that they won't manufacture a reason if they want to - "swerving", "thought a light was out" or even "do you know why I pulled you over"? Still, in this national campaign we are being told they can just pull you over for this.

How is this legal? If there's a state law saying they can't, can they just have a national law enforcement campaign that supersedes it? Is there such a thing as a national campaign or is this nothing more than scare advertising?

 

[Covar]

What about Traffic Stops? You know where they will stop everybody to check for Drunk Drivers? Of course the way those are run you'd be an idiot to get caught without your seat belt on at one of those.

 

[Tinwhistler]

seat belts and speed limits are set by local and state law. The NHTSA is coordinating with local cops for this effort.

http://www.ghsa.org/html/projects/op/ciot/10.html

states are conducting federally-funded seat belt enforcement zones and checkpoints throughout the Memorial Day holiday season.

In other words, the feds are paying the states to ramp up ticket efforts. In theory, those efforts will fall within state law for each state.

 

[Dave]

So they can't just target in Nebraska. But like I said, if they want to pull you over they will find a reason.

 

[Frank]

In Alberta, I can pull over someone for not wearing a seatbelt, same as anywhere in Canada but yeah, I can pull someone over for pretty much any reason.

 

[DarkAudit]

Some places are setting up random checkpoints. You want to keep going in a certain direction, you have to go through it. I ran into one on my way to get lunch yesterday.

Fortunately for me I wear mine and so do any of my passengers.

 

[Chibibar]

Just remember in Texas, you have to wear seatbelt in front AND back of the car now (recently pass I believe)

 

[Tinwhistler]

chibi is correct. Texas recently removed the phrase "in the front seat" from the seat belt law, making the law cover the entire vehicle.

 

[ScytheRexx]

The Click It or Ticket Campaign has been going on in Austin for awhile now. They will ticket you for not wearing a seat belt regardless if you are the driver or a passenger, and they have signs and messages on the radio talking about it. The television commercials are new though, never used to have those.

And really the police can pull you over for anything, even if they just notice you not wearing your seat belt.

 

[Frank]

Funny story, I almost never wear mine.

DOUBLE STANDARD CORRUPTION!

 

[Chibibar]

Funny story, I almost never wear mine.

DOUBLE STANDARD CORRUPTION!

Civilian Arrest!!

but here is my question. Why don't people wear seatbelt? is it uncomfortable? Many cases it saves live and there are RARE cases where a person is stuck in the car due to seatbelt after an accident, and even rarer cases people DIE from seatbelt (at least from what I heard. I don't have hard data on me right now)

 

[Hylian]

In Washington they the authority to pull you over if you are not wearing your seat belt and it results in a $124 fine.



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Funny story, I almost never wear mine.

DOUBLE STANDARD CORRUPTION!

Civilian Arrest!!

[/QUOTE]

Don't you mean citizen's arrest?

 

[Covar]

Funny story, I almost never wear mine.

DOUBLE STANDARD CORRUPTION!

Civilian Arrest!!

but here is my question. Why don't people wear seatbelt? is it uncomfortable? Many cases it saves live and there are RARE cases where a person is stuck in the car due to seatbelt after an accident, and even rarer cases people DIE from seatbelt (at least from what I heard. I don't have hard data on me right now)[/QUOTE]

My Uncle only survived a car accident because he wasn't wearing his seat belt.

 

[Chibibar]

Funny story, I almost never wear mine.

DOUBLE STANDARD CORRUPTION!

Civilian Arrest!!

but here is my question. Why don't people wear seatbelt? is it uncomfortable? Many cases it saves live and there are RARE cases where a person is stuck in the car due to seatbelt after an accident, and even rarer cases people DIE from seatbelt (at least from what I heard. I don't have hard data on me right now)[/QUOTE]

My Uncle only survived a car accident because he wasn't wearing his seat belt.[/QUOTE]
I survive a fatal one cause I did wear a seat belt.

 

[drawn_inward]

Funny story, I almost never wear mine.

DOUBLE STANDARD CORRUPTION!

Civilian Arrest!!

but here is my question. Why don't people wear seatbelt? is it uncomfortable? Many cases it saves live and there are RARE cases where a person is stuck in the car due to seatbelt after an accident, and even rarer cases people DIE from seatbelt (at least from what I heard. I don't have hard data on me right now)[/QUOTE]

My Uncle only survived a car accident because he wasn't wearing his seat belt.[/QUOTE]
I survive a fatal one cause I did wear a seat belt.[/QUOTE]

I wouldn't have been in a coma for 2 weeks if I was buckled, and would have avoided putting my face through the windshield.

 

[Chibibar]

I had a teenage drunk and doped up literally plow into my SUV. My whole passenger side was totaled. My car spin and crashed. If I wasn't buckle, I am pretty sure I would end up on the totaled side and be not happy.

but hey, there are stories that people survived without.

 

[Thread Necromancer]

I rolled my truck off the freeway at 80+ miles an hour (hydroplain, wasn't going nearly that fast before the water) and the seat belt saved my girlfriends life. My seatbelt was buckled but they tell me from the damage I should have lived regardless, but without it I would have been thrown out and the truck would have rolled over me.

I choose to wear mine and refuse passengers that would choose not to.

 

[Tinwhistler]

Funny story, I almost never wear mine.

DOUBLE STANDARD CORRUPTION!

Texas law exempts officers going about their duties from the seat belt law.

(c) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that the person was operating the vehicle in an emergency or for a law enforcement purpose.

 

[Eriol]

Regardless of the merits of wearing one or not, I do think it's a personal freedom issue only, and shouldn't be enforceable. Carmakers should by law be required to have them installed in all vehicles (and meet standards for effectiveness, etc), but I don't think it's right to coerce people through force of law into wearing them. Just because it's a good idea in general, some people have had experiences to the contrary, and either way you are hurting none but yourself.

Some (many?) disagree with this view, but it's what I hold.

And I hope I can use that as a defense if I ever meet you on the highway Frank (I live in Calgary). Not that it'd be an issue for me, as I wear mine by habit, but hey, I think it should be valid.

 

[Matt²]

 

[AshburnerX]

Let's be honest... it's just another tactic by state governments to raise revenue.

 

[Seraphyn]

We even get tickets for driving while on the phone (unless you're using a handsfree set thingamabobjiggy of course)

 

[Chibibar]

We even get tickets for driving while on the phone (unless you're using a handsfree set thingamabobjiggy of course)

I try driving once while on the phone. It is hard. I usually let my wife handle the phone stuff while I'm driving.

 

[RealBigNuke]

We even get tickets for driving while on the phone (unless you're using a handsfree set thingamabobjiggy of course)

IMHO, penalties for driving on the phone should be way higher and enforced more. You're putting the lives of others at way beyond an acceptable risk.

And seatbelts save far more people than they harm.

 

[Frank]

We even get tickets for driving while on the phone (unless you're using a handsfree set thingamabobjiggy of course)

Good, that's one I agree with. People are better drivers while drunk than they are while using a mobile.

 

[Thread Necromancer]

We even get tickets for driving while on the phone (unless you're using a handsfree set thingamabobjiggy of course)

I agree with this one as well. And it is a law here that you can not use your cellphone while driving unless it's with a hands free kit. What pisses me off is when I see on a daily basis police officers in my area driving around with their cell phones glued to their ears.

 

[sixpackshaker]

Let's be honest... it's just another tactic by state governments to raise revenue.

The states will spend a sh!t-ton more money on advertisement enforcement and overtime than they will get back in revenues.

 

[David]

If my phone goes off while I'm driving, I toss it to whoever is in the passenger seat. If I'm driving alone, the phone goes unanswered. It's not that hard. I can always pull over if I'm expecting something important.

 

[Seraphyn]

Mmm the reason I dislike getting fined for it, is because you can stare at your GPS while driving, but as soon as you take your phone in your hand, it's anywhere between 136-2000 bucks or 2 months of jail plxkthx.

 

[Tinwhistler]

Let's be honest... it's just another tactic by state governments to raise revenue.

The states will spend a sh!t-ton more money on advertisement enforcement and overtime than they will get back in revenues.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, but that's FED money they're spending on advertisement. It's money they wouldn't have had anyway, and it's money they only get if they spend it, so any additional ticket revenue is total profit.

 

[Rob King]

I don't always wear my seatbelt. I do when I remember it, which is 90% of the time, but if I get in a strange car, sometimes I forget. I do find it more comfortable without, but people get mad if I don't buckle up in their cars, typically. I'd rather not fight about it.

And when I drive the work van ... I shit you not: the belt is more to keep me in my seat than it is to save my life in the event of a crash. I drive that van hard.

 

[Chibibar]

I don't always wear my seatbelt. I do when I remember it, which is 90% of the time, but if I get in a strange car, sometimes I forget. I do find it more comfortable without, but people get mad if I don't buckle up in their cars, typically. I'd rather not fight about it.

And when I drive the work van ... I shit you not: the belt is more to keep me in my seat than it is to save my life in the event of a crash. I drive that van hard.

I drive a district van and the school REQUIRES that everyone buckle up or I don't move. (10 person van)

I don't care if you grip while riding in MY car and I make you buckle up. If you don't like, then don't ride in my car

 

[Officer_Charon]

Yes, it's reasonable to assume that governments could be looking at this from a financial standpoint.

I also don't like working wrecks where someone's hanging half-in, half-out of their car, bleeding freely from scalp, face and torso from where they launched through the windshield. I despise the thought of picking up someone's infant from 20 yards down the road because they wouldn't strap in their offspring, resulting in what paramedics and officers call a "blood missile."

If I hadn't been wearing my seatbelt when I had my wreck, there is little doubt in my mind that centripetal force would have launched me out of my (shattered) window when my car span and almost flipped. I would have been strewn across one of the busiest intersections in my city. Instead, I unbuckled, climbed out, and rendered aid to the person who WAS injured.

Wear your goddamned seatbelts, people. I don't care about the ticket: I DO care about you.

 

[Thread Necromancer]

Wear your goddamned seatbelts, people. I don't care about the ticket: I DO care about you.

I think I have something in my eye. If you'll excuse me.

*cough cough* love you too sugar tits....

 

[AshburnerX]

Let's be honest... it's just another tactic by state governments to raise revenue.

The states will spend a sh!t-ton more money on advertisement enforcement and overtime than they will get back in revenues.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, but that's FED money they're spending on advertisement. It's money they wouldn't have had anyway, and it's money they only get if they spend it, so any additional ticket revenue is total profit.[/QUOTE]

Not to mention any city is looking at giving out dozens to hundreds of these a day, depending on size. Averaging 150 dollars a ticket, that's going to be at least a few thousand, even on the slow day.