There's a national "Click It or Ticket" law. About a decade ago, a cop couldn't pull you over just for not wearing your seatbelt. They needed a different reason, like broken taillight, expired tags, etc, and then if they noticed you weren't wearing your seatbelt when they pulled you over, they could ticket you for it.
But then they introduced the new law saying that cops can indeed pull you over for the sole purpose of not wearing your seatbelt. I tried Googling what a first offense ticket would cost, but search engines have been epic fail today.
Although, in Illinois, at least, there's a law stating that if passengers in the backseat are 18 or older, they have the choice of not wearing their seatbelts. But front seat passengers are required regardless of age. I always wear my seatbelt and when I see someone I'm riding with not wearing it, I nag them about it. The only time I've not worn my seatbelt in the backseat was the rare occasion when my parents would drive somewhere with me and my three little cousins (8, 9, and 10 years old) and it would be the four of us in the backseat. I would make sure they were wearing the three seatbelts.
Basically, it's heavily enforced. They just don't think about it in TV/movies. But a few years ago, in a Hannah Montana episode (or the movie, whatever), Miley and her dad did a scene where they got into a car, didn't buckle up, and Billy Ray just started "driving" and Miley was scolded by parents for being a "bad role model" (which makes me laugh because, look at her now, promoting sex and whatnot). Miley and Billy Ray did a public apology, stating that they were so in the moment when filming that they just forgot about the seatbelts. Personally, I thought it was rather silly to make such a federal case out of it. I never noticed those little things when I was a kid. I never argued, "But they don't wear seatbelts on Show." If it angered parents so much, they should have gone to the directors of the show, not the actors.
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Date: 2012-06-22 06:49 am (UTC)But then they introduced the new law saying that cops can indeed pull you over for the sole purpose of not wearing your seatbelt. I tried Googling what a first offense ticket would cost, but search engines have been epic fail today.
Although, in Illinois, at least, there's a law stating that if passengers in the backseat are 18 or older, they have the choice of not wearing their seatbelts. But front seat passengers are required regardless of age. I always wear my seatbelt and when I see someone I'm riding with not wearing it, I nag them about it. The only time I've not worn my seatbelt in the backseat was the rare occasion when my parents would drive somewhere with me and my three little cousins (8, 9, and 10 years old) and it would be the four of us in the backseat. I would make sure they were wearing the three seatbelts.
Basically, it's heavily enforced. They just don't think about it in TV/movies. But a few years ago, in a Hannah Montana episode (or the movie, whatever), Miley and her dad did a scene where they got into a car, didn't buckle up, and Billy Ray just started "driving" and Miley was scolded by parents for being a "bad role model" (which makes me laugh because, look at her now, promoting sex and whatnot). Miley and Billy Ray did a public apology, stating that they were so in the moment when filming that they just forgot about the seatbelts. Personally, I thought it was rather silly to make such a federal case out of it. I never noticed those little things when I was a kid. I never argued, "But they don't wear seatbelts on Show." If it angered parents so much, they should have gone to the directors of the show, not the actors.