COLUMBIA, Mo., May 8 (UPI) -- A U.S. study indicates states could increase seatbelt use if law enforcement officers were able to ticket drivers for not using seatbelts.
Lilliard Richardson, of the University of Missouri-Columbia's Truman School of Public Affairs, and David J. Houston, of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, say primary enforcement laws allow police officers to ticket drivers if they are not wearing seatbelts, while secondary enforcement laws only allow an officer to pull over drivers for a separate violation and then ticket them if they are not wearing seatbelts.
The researchers say 13 of 47 states changed their laws from secondary to primary between 1991 and 2003.
Seatbelt use in all of the states studied increased during the 13-year study, but states with primary enforcement laws consistently had the highest use of seatbelts, and states with secondary enforcement laws had the lowest usage rates, according to the study published in the American Journal of Public Health.
