CHP: Zero Tolerance Enforcement on Seatbelt Laws Tomorrow

Never will we understand why people don't like or forget to wear seatbelts, but it happens all the time.

Many like to complain about seat belt tickets, citing the usual government fundraiser line, but if you look a little closer, there are two facts to consider. Obviously one is the safety factor: seatbelts save lives. There are those who will call survival of the fittest in those cases, but many survive seatbelt-less crashes, ending up in the hospital. And that's where we have a big problem: who foots the bill for those drivers without drivers or health insurance? We do, the taxpayers. Call us fiscal conservatives, but we sure are not happy to hand over money to those who couldn't take two seconds to put on a seatbelt.

With all that said, the California Highway Patrol has designated tomorrow as “Vehicle Occupant Restraint Day.” A grant has funded extra officers to patrol the roads, focusing purely on seatbelt violations, which run $132 and up to $432 for not properly restraining a child under 16 years of age.

On average, the CHP writes 500 seatbelt tickets a day, not including the 17,076 tickets issued in 2008 for child safety seat violations. Stay safe out there!