Citation for failure to wear the seat belt

[Sam]

I got pulled over on I45 close to downtown Houston last week and was given a citation for not wearing my seat belt.

What are my options? Anyone has experience with this before? Especially in Houston.

Thanks.

 

[aaronc879]

Options? Pay the ticket. Wear your seatbelt. Use common sense. We just had a month long 'campaign' here where cops were givin a grant to work overtime just to watch for people who weren't wearing their seatbelts. Apparently there are a lot of people who don't value their lives. There were alot of tickets issued. Buckle up! It's the law and it could save your life.

 

[brewer12345]

Um, I think they will happily take cash for the fine.

 

[REWahoo]

What are my options?

Placing a sticky note on your steering wheel saying "$eatbelt$!"?

Probably not what you want to hear, but with the statewide "Click it or Ticket" program underway, probably best to pay up, buckle up and move on.

 

[dex]

Options? Pay the ticket. Wear your seatbelt. Use common sense. We just had a month long 'campaign' here where cops were givin a grant to work overtime just to watch for people who weren't wearing their seatbelts. Apparently there are a lot of people who don't value their lives. There were alot of tickets issued. Buckle up! It's the law and it could save your life.

Good answer.

Sam,
What are you expecting - sympathy? The police officer did you a favor. You'll thank him if you are in an accident with it on.

 

[packrat44]

I agree with all of the above responses.

Use of your seatbelt might ensure you remain with us on the forum for many years into the future.

 

[Leonidas]

What are my options? Anyone has experience with this before? Especially in Houston.

You can take a special seatbelt violation DSC to get a dismissal. There are hoops to jump through with the court, such as notification of intent to take the course before you do so, obtaining a certified copy of your DL record from the DPS showing that you have never taking the course before, forms to fill out, fees to pay, a 6-8 hours course to take, etc. Look at your ticket and see what court the charge is filed in (HPD = Municipal courts; Sheriff, Constable, DPS, Metro = JP court, etc) and look at their website or call them for more info.

I'm not sure that permission to take the course is automatic. The law reads that they judge "may" allow a defendant to take DSC in lieu of a final conviction. Given that you cannot have driven in Texas in the last month or so without seeing advertisements about the big seatbelt crackdown on the highway message boards, or heard ads for it all over the radio, or seen them on the TV, you may have picked a bad time to get this particular ticket. Some judges might be making examples out of folks who ignored the warnings.

Count me among the no-sympathy-for-you crowd as well. I don't like Nanny-State laws, and this is one, but given the effectiveness of seat belts in preventing death and catastrophic injury, not using them is dumb.

 

[jIMOh]

My best friend is a firefighter and he sees way too many fatalities which could be prevented with a simple clicking of the seat belt.

 

[FUEGO]

I think at least one local state allows an "out" if you have an irrational fear of seatbelts. Maybe claim this? Those things are very scary - rather serpentine in nature.

 

[Achiever51]

I think at least one local state allows an "out" if you have an irrational fear of seatbelts. Maybe claim this? Those things are very scary - rather serpentine in nature.

Is it the law that's scary or the seatbelt??

BTW to the OP: having survived an auto accident that very likely would have caused serious injury or death if I wasn't belted in, I sincerely hope you'll wear your seatbelt everytime you drive/ride in a vehicle.

 

[cantlogin]

I’m not at all sure that I approve of seat belt laws but I can not understand why anyone wouldn’t want to use one. I have a friend who will avoid using one whenever he can and when I question him about it I’m never able to get a satisfactory explanation for his behavior. Is anyone able to suggest any reason for not using a seat belt that makes sense?

 

[TromboneAl]

Sam, why is it that you don't wear it? Do you never wear it?

 

[Bestwifeever]

DD had a broken collarbone from an Interstate accident. Car was totalled--seatbelt saved her life.

Maybe you could give the ticketing officer a kiss when you see him and politely ask about traffic school....

 

[Khan]

Wear the %^&* seatbelt.

Smashed into a car that pulled out in front of me, my sunglasses bounced off the windshield, my skull didn't.

 

[packrat44]

Maybe you could give the ticketing officer a kiss ....

Sam is in Houston, not San Francisco. That probably wouldn't go over very well with either the officer or with Sam.

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Ignore it. It might go away.

 

[Payin-the-Toll]

In 2005, went to get 'Indpls 500' tickets at the Speedway. Wife & I were excited, left to get on the interstate & were behind a big box truck (couldn't see anything). Suddenly we see the police in the middle of the road--they pull us over and give us both tickets (wife wears hers 99% of the time). I hate belting up cause I have rotator-cuff problems and hate anything riding my shoulder, so I bought tight paper clamps at Walmart, pulled the belt out 2-3" more than needed, marked the spot with a pen, and clamped it off. If someone else drives, takes 2 seconds to pull the clamp off and restore belt to its original position.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Sam is in Houston, not San Francisco. That probably wouldn't go over very well with either the officer or with Sam.

Maybe it was a lady cop?

 

[igsoy]

I was in an accident on the ice, came over a hill and headlights were shining at me in my lane! Hit the brakes and the rear end comes around, passes the front end, then heads off the road and down an embankment, coming to rest upside down, unharmed, and hanging from my seatbelt. Yay seatbelts!

 

[Goonie]

On April 6, 1980, I started wearing my seatbelt all the time! On April 6th, I exited my Dodge van via the windshield on the passenger side......I had been on the driver's side prior to the wreck. I figured I had lucked out by not being killed or very seriously injured (only 5 stitches to my forehead and a zillion tiny pieces of shattered glass in my scalp and embedded in my skull). I buckled up when I got in my folk's car for the ride home from the emergency room.

To OP....I'd just pay the ticket, and accept that as a lesson to play it safe from here on out. A ticket is cheaper and less traumatic than a funeral.

 

[bbbamI]

Maybe it was a lady cop?

It could have been. ....

 

[Gworker]

Just pay it, I don't think there is much of a defense. It depends on the state but usually it is not a moving violation so there will be no points on your license and I don't think it will affect your insurance.

 

[packrat44]

Many years ago a woman (who I worked with prior to retiring) and her husband were hit by a driver you crossed into oncoming traffic and the collision put them sliding down the highway on their roof-top. They were driving a Subaru Brat with a sun-roof. They were extracted from their vehicle still hanging from their seatbelts. If it were not for the seatbelts, they would have had their heads scraping asphalt.

While I do not like laws to protect people against themselves (such as seatbelts and helmets), it is insane not to use devices that can save servere injury or death.

 

[Marquette]

I fully support your decision to end your life by whatever means you feel best. However, the cops disagree with me. And, frankly, if you were to do a poor job of it and force my health insurance costs to go up, then I'd be unhappy with you too. So, click it or ticket.

 

[Walt34]

I've written a stack of motor vehicle accident reports several inches thick. It got to the point that I could look at the wrecked car(s) and the people who were inside them and tell with almost certainty who was and who wasn't wearing a seat belt based on their injuries and/or lack of them.

Look elsewhere for sympathy.