BRANDON, FL -- 65 new laws go into effect in Florida this week, including one that would allow law enforcement officers to pull you over just for not wearing a seat belt.
"This particular campaign began today. We started at 6:45 this morning," said Corporal Ed Raburn from the front seat of an undercover red pickup truck Tuesday morning.
At a Brandon intersection at Parsons Avenue and State Road 60, in just two hours time, he and other deputies doled out nearly 90 tickets. "I just came outta the store -- and I just didn't do it," said Gary Monilaw, a driver who got caught driving without his seatbelt. Another woman, Gail Walzer, told us, "I didn't even see him until I came through that light."
"You can clearly see through the back window the seatbelt -- and the clasp is hanging so I know that the driver isn't wearing that seatbelt,” Corporal Raburn told us during a ride along.
You've probably heard of 'Click-It-or-Ticket' campaign. This new seatbelt campaign has a new catchy name, "Belts or Else." The driver of a red Chevy pickup was one of the first to be fined because of a new law that went into effect Tuesday. Law enforcement can now pull you over solely for not wearing your seat belt, and the fine isn't cheap.
"What do you think the ticket's going to be?" we asked. Walzer replied, "I don't have a clue?" The answer: $101.
Deputies handed out those fines to 203 drivers county-wide. At $101 a pop, that's more than $20,000.
"I think a lot of people think they're just not gonna get in a crash because they never have before and what they don't realize is the first time they ever get in a crash could be the one that kills them," said Raburn.
Out of that $101 ticket, $30 goes to the State of Florida. The other $71 goes to pay for court fees and to Hillsborough County's General Fund.
"If you give me just one second, I'll get the envelope with all the information," said Raburn. He says it's the message, not the money that counts, pointing out that since 2004, 160 people have died because they weren't buckled up.
