Few Motorists Caught Without Seat Belt at Special Weekend Enforcement

Only 44 people were cited for seat belt violations during a special nighttime enforcement of seat belt laws in Montgomery County Friday, police reported. 

Montgomery County police, along with Rockville City police and Gaithersburg police, set out the evening of May 10 to ticket and educate drivers about new and existing seat belt laws. As of Oct. 1, 2013, all passengers in a motor vehicle will be required to wear a seat belt because of a Maryland Senate bill signed into law by Gov. Martin O'Malley this month.

County police said the enforcement was spurred by data that show almost half of vehicle fatality victims from 2008 to 2012 were not wearing seat belts. 

A total of 128 citations were issued during the enforcement period, which lasted from 7:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. The rest of the citations were safety offenses not related to wearing seat belts.