Primary Enforcement Laws

Primary enforcement laws allow law enforcement officers to stop and ticket a driver for a specific violation, such as not wearing a seatbelt, without needing any other reason for the stop. This means if an officer sees someone driving without a seatbelt, they can pull the driver over solely for that reason. In contrast, secondary enforcement laws require officers to see another violation before they can ticket someone for not wearing a seatbelt. Essentially, primary enforcement gives officers more discretion to enforce safety laws directly.