What is the fine for NOT wearing your seat belt, in your area ?

J

jimintoronto

Well-known Member
Here in Ontario seat belt use was made mandatory in 1976. Just under 50 years ago, but some fools still won't use them. What is the fine/penalty in your jurisdiction for "fail to wear seat belt " ? Here it's a $350 fine and 3 demerit points on your driver's license record for 3 years, and your vehicle insurance company gets a notice about you being convicted, which usually results in a premium increase.

Do you wear your seat belt all the time ? I do. JIM.
 

Pinky said:
We always buckle-up. That goes for other passengers.
I know of those who didn't survive a crash, due to not wearing a seat-belt.
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You know that I spent ten years with Metro Toronto Ambulance. I never once removed a seat belt from a dead person in a car accident, but I did see a lot of dead people, who were not wearing their seat belt. Whenever we would be told by the dispatcher over the two way radio, that a person had been "ejected from the vehicle " we knew they had not been belted in the car. JIM.
 
A 9 year old boy was killed just last week in Burlington, Ontario when he was thrown from a car that crashed. No one in the car was wearing a seatbelt. The boy's father was driving and fell asleep at the wheel crashing the vehicle. That's something thge father will have to live with for the rest of his life.

Wearing seatbelts for me is automatic when getting into any vehicle!
 
$165.

About eight years ago, I was crossing a narrow bridge a 2-minute drive from our home. No other cars along the whole gravel stretch to where our rural mail-box banks are at the other end of the bridge...10 seconds more there's a T onto a secondary highway. I'd intended to fasten my seatbelt before turning onto it.

A rookie RCMP, parked on the gravel, stopped me. At the time he was probably hoping for local MJ growers with product in their vehicles. As I was relaxed and cordial, he just talked with me through my rolled-down window, wrote me a ticket, and a little sheepishly advised I'd get a $25 reduction if I paid within a week.
 
I don't know. But I'm pretty law abiding. In California, I remember when it became mandatory. Sometime in the very early 80's. I did not wear my seat belt prior to that. But I did diligently from that day forward.
 
In Pennsylvania, not wearing a seatbelt is a secondary offense as is not having your lights turned on if the wipers are being used when precipitation is falling.

A secondary offense means that the driver will only receive a citation if they were stopped for a primary offense such as; speeding, running a red light, going through a stop sign without coming to a complete stop and so on. If you are under 18, not wearing a seatbelt is a primary offense.
 
Don M. said:
In Missouri, it appears that the fine is only $10...plus $50 court costs.
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Thats crazy. Ten bucks is not any kind of deterrent. I will point out that in Canada and in Australia the fines are in the hundreds of dollars, plus demerit points on your driver's license record. JIM.
 
$160 for a first offense, $250 after that, and about $500 for a parent who fails to buckle up a kid under age 16. But those fines include issuance, enforcement, and court fees.

If you take your ticket directly to a police station, they'll only charge you $20 for the first offense, $50 for the second, and $200 for not buckling up your kid. I'm not sure if there's an enforcement fee. If there is, it's probly $75.

But if you're a "habitual offender", they won't take any money at the police station; they'll give you an order to appear before a judge. If you don't show up on the date on the order, the judge will issue a bench warrant.
 
Murrmurr said:
$160 for a first offense, $250 after that, and about $500 for a parent who fails to buckle up a kid under age 16. But those fines include issuance, enforcement, and court fees.

If you take your ticket directly to a police station, they'll only charge you $20 for the first offense, $50 for the second, and $200 for not buckling up your kid. I'm not sure if there's an enforcement fee. If there is, it's probly $75.

But if you're a "habitual offender", they won't take any money at the police station; they'll give you an order to appear before a judge. If you don't show up on the date on the order, the judge will issue a bench warrant.
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Interesting. One ticket chastened me enough that I buckle up everywhere but driving on our own property. I'd never had a speeding or other citation, and in fact had the safe-driver's discount on my insurance (all of which the officer could see on the computer in his car). So, I felt he should have given me just a warning. (For instance, they'll do that if they notice a tail light not working.) Must be why the officer seemed a little embarrassed when he handed me the ticket.🤔
 
JBR said:
Interesting. One ticket chastened me enough that I buckle up everywhere but driving on our own property. I'd never had a speeding or other citation, and in fact had the safe-driver's discount on my insurance (all of which the officer could see on the computer in his car). So, I felt he should have given me just a warning. (For instance, they'll do that if they notice a tail light not working.) Must be why the officer seemed a little embarrassed when he handed me the ticket.🤔
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The fact that one seat belt ticket caused you to "buckle up everywhere " proves my point that effective enforcement works. Piddly fines are not the way to get compliance. Make it hurt the scoff laws in the pocket.
 
In New York it gets complicated.

The basic fine is $50.00 for the driver and another $25.00 - $100.00 for each passenger depending on age and location in the vehicle.

If the driver has small children in the car without proper restraints they can also face child endangerment charges.

I wear mine but i remember all of the fuss and flap when seatbelt laws were first enacted.
 
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In Florida, the fine for not wearing a seat belt is $30. This applies to adults who are not buckled up in the front seat. The fine increases to $60 if a child under 18 is not wearing a seat belt or if they are not properly restrained in a child safety seat as required by law.

Also, in Florida, a seat belt violation is a secondary offense for adults. However, For children under 18, not wearing a seat belt or not having a child properly secured in a child restraint system, it is a primary offense.



 
Aunt Bea said:
i remember all of the fuss and flap when seatbelt laws were first enacted.
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When the laws were enacted, my car didn't have seatbelts. It was a 1957 Chevy.

Drivers weren't the only people balking about seatbelt laws (and I was one of them), car manufacturers did, too.

But they did what they had to; raised the price of new cars.
 
In Tennessee the fine is $30 - $55.

It is a primary Offense which means they can pull you over just for that and then inspect your car for other things if they think they need to. It’s how a lot of drug dealers and other criminals have been caught.

The only reason I wear my seatbelt is that I don’t want to pay the fine.
 
Lots drive UTV's in Mo. about towns too. Between Farms, across fields, thru ditches, dirt roads and timbers.
Any rural town may have maybe 12 UTV trucks running around in them any times of the days. Many come
from the Campers areas too. Maybe 20 / 30 mph. Couple of girls with one on a path went around a corner
downhill; bridge out,

No road closed, just down the steep drop of maybe 6 feet. They were banged up, going 5 mph over the edge.
They said they were busy looking around at the timber and not paying much attention. UTV repainted.

Some drive Jeeps on steep slopes, most likely belts fastened.

Racing style seat belts - Bing
 
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Here in the US, cars manufactured before 1964 are not required to have seat belts by federal law.
I remember when some states wanted to retro-fit the belts, but, lawsuits soon erupted because who would be at fault if a belt was improperly installed. (not everyone trying to install is a certified safety engineer)
 

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