Article from: www.thenewspaper.com/news/08/890.asp
1/10/2006
South Carolina Seat Belt Ticket Law to Bring Millions
Switching to a primary seatbelt law will allow South Carolina's highway patrol to generate at least $2 million in revenue.
On December 9, South Carolina police began enforcing the state's new primary seat belt law. One month later, the state is now on track to earn at least $2 million a year by pulling over motorists who forgot to wear a seatbelt or chose not to do so. Under the old law, police could only ticket motorists for seatbelts if they had already pulled them over for a separate offense. The change has resulted in a 38 percent increase in the number of tickets written.
Between December 9 and January 6, highway troopers issued 6712 tickets worth $25 each for a total of $167,800 in revenue. If police continue to issue tickets at the same rate, they will generate 87,500 citations a year from the new law.
Article Excerpt:Max Young, director of the Office of Highway Safety at the Department of Public Safety, said law enforcement in general "probably did give motorists a period to get familiar with the law and be a little more lenient than they are going to be in the future."
Source: Officers hand out seat-belt tickets (The State (SC), 1/10/2006)
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