Several states, including Pennsylvania, are considering strengthening their seat-belt laws to qualify for federal highway funds.
Under existing law, a seat-belt violation is considered to be a secondary violation. Therefore, police officers are not permitted to pull a vehicle over simply because of a seat-belt violation. With the proposed changes, a seat-belt violation would become a primary violation, thus permitting officers to pull over a vehicle just for a seat-belt violation. States considering the change include Arkansas, Florida, Kansas, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Nebraska and New Hampshire.
For more information, go to:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090204/ap_on_re_us/seat_belt_laws