I read the seatbelt ticket thread, and it reminded me of what happened around here last week. Once a week I eat breakfast with a bunch of guys at a local greasy spoon. We are sitting there drinking coffee and waiting for our meal. I look out the window at the road, and notice a few county patrolmen setting up a license checkpoint. It just so happens the local sheriff is sitting at the table next to us. We tease him about the guys setting up out front, trying to impress the boss, etc.
In a few minutes, a pattern begins to emerge. The church lot across the way has 5 or 6 cars pulling over and getting ticketed. It's all guys, no female drivers, then we notice the reason. As the approaching cars see the checkpoint and stop to wait their turn at the officer, almost every guy in the line unfastens his seatbelt to get his wallet out of his back pocket. They were all getting seatbelt violations!!! We mentioned it to the Sheriff, and he said, "Vehicle's key is in the ignition, vehicle is running, seatbelt should be fastened, they'll learn the next time."

Put that one in your memory banks for the next license check you see.

 

Ask the Governor of NJ about not wearing a seat belt--- bet he does it from now on.

 

Wow, if that's really the case that's a pretty weak response from the cops. I feel that checkpoints infringe upon our personal freedoms to begin with. No probable cause, no police involvement IMHO.

That said, I do appreciate the fact that checkpoints to snag intoxicated drivers, but I highly doubt that was the goal with the checkpoint you described. Unless you've got a bunch of morning drunks out your way.

If cops need to raise money, have a bake sale, not checkpoints.

- NCSU

Edit:srfd44 do you not see a difference b/t driving down the highway without a seatbelt vs. the situation described above????

 

That Sheriff is a douche-bag.

 

I'll back the law enforcement machine 99 times out of 100... this is the ONE TIME out of that 100 that I won't.

Talk about a total crock. That's almost baiting them into getting a ticket and proving ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to the people that are getting the ticks. While a law is a law, there is a thing in the law that calls for the enforcement officer to use JUDGMENT when it comes to items like this. Total crock 'o poo if you ask me.

 

Yep

 

He wasn't parked with a cop at his window. Duh.

As I said in my previous post -- JUDGMENT.

The Gov was DEAD WRONG in not wearing his belt when it's a state law. No qualms there. What is wrong is that there's a law enforcement officer standing at the window requesting the operator's government issued identification card and the operator is trying to produce it for him/her. In doing this, one unbuckles a belt and gets a ticket? Ludicrous.

Your governor comparison is apples to oranges with the root problem with this overall scenario.

 

I kinda hope when that Gov wakes up in the hospital, he gets a ticket for not being buckled in.

 

X's 2

Couldn't have said it better myself.

 

I've got to agree with RockPick here. This is downright silly. On the bright side, I pretty much doubt that the tickets issued will hold up in court once that little detail leaks out.

Now let's put the shoe on the other foot - or in the other mouth. Many of my friends in law enforcement don't wear their seat belts on a regular basis. Their (flawed) logic? When you have handcuffs, a 9 mm pistol, several extra clips, nightstick, flashlight, pepper spray, etc. on your belt, the seat belt gets caught on stuff and / or might actually injure you in a crash. Hmmmm. Nah, I don't buy it either.

 

Yea that was a scam by the cops, I agree

But seatbelt laws save lives, and my gov breaks the law and it's OK. He should lead by example. I know that that caravan of SUV's genreally travels at around 80 mph, pushing everyone in the way out of the way. Not safe for anyone near them.

 

I'd be interested to read NC's law on this to get both sides of this story. Since you are providing a generalized warning, people traveling in South Carolina are protected from receiving a citation for this at a checkpoint:

I work several checkpoints a month, and yes, sometimes on certain roads a backup can occur delaying your travel time. We often use backroads instead of main routes. You guys would not believe how productive these checkpoints are for removing dui's. dus's, drugs, alcohol, and wanted persons! They far outweigh the delays....

 

x2!!

 

What the HECK!!!!....why are you here in the daytime?

Not that you aren't welcome mind you

 

yah that would be the one time i would fight the case in court all the way to the top. the couple times ive been pulled over it was my fault, no denying that, but man that would hella **** me off.... I very rarely drive without my seatbelt, and if i do, i usually am doing something like changing shirts in the car or something, but yeah