Please AVOID This One-BIG SAFETY ISSUE

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   In Maryland and the District of Columbia, the seat belt law is a primary offense; in Virginia, it is a secondary offense.

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JDivine Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 14 Feb 2002 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote JDivine Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 23 Nov 2004 at 11:37am
	In Maryland and the District of Columbia, the seat belt law is a primary offense; in Virginia, it is a secondary offense.

Baz Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 14 Oct 2004 Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote Baz Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 23 Nov 2004 at 12:26pm
	A primary offense to get pulled over by police to not have your seatbelt on in the back seat??

JDivine Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 14 Feb 2002 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote JDivine Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 23 Nov 2004 at 2:49pm
	I don't think so. What I found did not specify, but I believe the offense refers to front seat belts only. I would think the "plain view" rule would apply here, and I think an officer would be hard-pressed to argue that the back seat of a vehicle is in "plain view" while driving along at 65 mph even with a partner. We need a traffic cop from each jurisdiction to respond.

USA Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 06 Jun 2002 Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote USA Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 24 Nov 2004 at 9:56am
	quote: Originally posted by Baz [br]A primary offense to get pulled over by police to not have your seatbelt on in the back seat?? In DC, it is indeed, at least for the front seat--the cops sometimes set up "seatbelt checkpoints" (similar to sobriety checkpoints, without all the flashing lights and roadblocks) and pull people over. I've seen it happen on Connecticut Avenue between K and L. I don't know if DC has a law on back-seat passengers In Virginia it emphatically is not a primary offense--check the statutes I posted previously (I omitted that portion as irrelevant). There is NO law requiring adult rear-seat passengers to wear seatbelts in Virginia.

tlschau Members Profile Find Members Posts New Slug Joined: 23 Jul 2002 Location: VA Status: Offline Points: 0	Post Options Post Reply Quote tlschau Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 01 Dec 2004 at 2:01pm
	quote: Originally posted by USA [br] Originally posted by Baz In Virginia it emphatically is not a primary offense--check the statutes I posted previously (I omitted that portion as irrelevant). There is NO law requiring adult rear-seat passengers to wear seatbelts in Virginia. This is correct, there is no Virginia law requiring adult rear-seat passengers to wear seatbelts.