We have a deluge of ads in North Carolina warning that troopers are watching for people driving without seat belts and they will stop you and ticket you.
We were promised that the seat belt laws would only be applicable for drivers stopped for other infractions.
The state lied to us yet again.
We were also promised that the law would only be a secondary offense. I’ve done a little research; and, I have developed a sequence for how the federal gubment assists in enacting a seatbelt law:
1. Confiscate money from the people
2. Offer to give some of it to state governments (in the case of Kansas, $11 million), on the condition that a seatbelt law is passed.
3. Offer the state assistance, in the form of ready canned PSA’s about the subject. In KS, $1 million went to PSA’s, the other $10 went to the general fund.
4. Supply the state with an incremental strategy to follow. It starts with baby seats, but the ultimate goal is a primary offense law.
5. Confiscate more money, and give some of it to the states, as ‘grants’ to enforce seatbelt laws.
6. When budget time rolls around, claim these grants are ‘necessary’ and can’t be cut.