South Dakota House Kills Tougher Seat Belt Law

Members of the South Dakota House have killed an attempt to revive a failed bill strengthening the state seat belt law.

The House voted 35-33 to defeat an attempt to insert language creating a primary enforcement seat belt law into a bill on the afternoon’s debate calendar.

The move came a few hours after a committee had killed SB79, which would have allowed law enforcement officers to stop and ticket motorists who weren’t buckled up. Current state law lets an officer ticket a motorist for a seat belt violation only if a stop has been made for another reason.