Primary Seat Belt Law To Be Enforced Soon

May 12, 2010

By Cliff Judy (WICHITA, Kan.)

Not wearing your seat belt will soon land you with a traffic ticket. Just before the end of the legislative session, Kansas state lawmakers passed a primary seat belt law.

It means officers can pull you over if they see you driving without a seat belt.

Officer Terence James has been with Wichita Police for nine years, and he sees plenty of drivers who'll soon be getting tickets.

"A lot of people won't like it because they think it's their right that they should be able to make a choice on whether or not they have to wear their seat belt," says Officer James.

Most drivers who talked to Eyewitness News didn't seem to mind the new law. Marisa Moreno says she wears her seat belt all the time and makes passengers in her car wear them, too.

"You always hear about all the accidents where if somebody had been wearing their seat belts, maybe things would have turned out differently," says Moreno.

The Wichita Area NAACP says there are many benefits to the new law, but it will monitor ticket numbers to make sure it's not used in any type of racial profiling.

Officer James says he's sure many of the drivers he pulls over will think the new law is just a way for the state to make money. Instead, he hopes they learn to wear their belt and realize it's a safety issue.

"I don't make the laws," says James. "I just enforce them. If I can educate someone that they need to wear their seat belt to keep them from being thrown out of the vehicle, then it's got to happen."

For passing the primary seat belt law, Kansas will get $11 million from the federal government.

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