NMA Position On Seat Belt Laws

The NMA supports the contention that individuals should retain the freedom and responsibility to make choices affecting their own safety and the safety of their families.

At each stage of the evolution of mandatory seatbelt laws we warned that this was an incremental process that would eventually lead to heavy handed enforcement practices and onerous penalties. Our predictions are proving correct.

First it was child restraint laws because "the children are not capable of making these decisions themselves and too many parents are irresponsible." Next it was "secondary" enforcement of belt laws, just as a means to "encourage" the use of seatbelts.

Fines are being increased, "Primary" enforcement is giving police the excuse to pull anyone and everyone over on the pretext of a seatbelt violation. Thousands of roadblocks have been erected to force compliance with seatbelt laws. Violation points toward suspension of driver licenses and photo/video enforcement are the next likely escalations of this process.

The NMA encourages seatbelt use, but it does not support mandatory seatbelt laws and the intrusive and punitive policies they spawn.

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