Florida’s New Seatbelt Law Goes Into Effect June 30

Florida passed a law, effective June  30, that police can pull over and cite a driver for not wearing a seatbelt.  Under the just expired old law, police needed another basis for the stop.  Violators are looking at a $30 fine.

Most vocal safety and consumer groups laud the passage of the law which brings Florida in line with the slight majority of states which have similar laws (29 of 50 states).  According to that News-Press article, 4 out of 5 Florida drivers already use the seaatbelt, although its a few percentage points below the national average.  A local personal injury lawyer gave some pretty clear coverage of the law, here.

Downsides to the law?  There is some concern that the motivation is revenue-generation (easier traffic tickets) rather than safety.  Likewise, there is also some civil rights concerns that this is simply a pretext to pull over someone.  Others might suggest this is further degradation of personal liberties.  That said, a Google search on the new law failed to find anyone who articulately raised a thoughtful dissent to the law; instead, opponents tend to rant, like you find in the commenters to this Miami Herald piece.

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