“Primary Seat Belt” Law (H 5983, Article 18)

The House removed from the Governor’s proposed budget a provision that would have allowed police to pull cars over for seat belt violations. Although promoted as a safety measure, the State Police and the Department of Transportation decided to use the Governor’s budget this year as their vehicle to make seat belt use in the state a primary offense. Under current law, police can issue a seat belt ticket only if the driver has been pulled over for another reason. The ACLU testified that allowing police to pull over suspected seat belt violators will only increase the extent of racial profiling occurring in Rhode Island.