Claims News Service, Feb. 1, 8:45 a.m. EST — Mississippi toughened its safety belt law by recently passing a bill that allows law enforcement to stop a driver simply for not wearing a seat belt — and Georgia is considering removing the pickup truck exemption from its primary enforcement law, according to the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America.

Mississippi is the 22nd state to adopt primary seat belt enforcement legislation. A secondary law, as it currently exists in the state, means that a citation for not wearing a safety belt only can be written after an officer stops the vehicle or cites the offender for another violation. A new study by the Institute for Highway Safety found that when states strengthen their laws from secondary to primary, driver death rates decline by an estimated seven percent.

Seat belt legislation changes also are being considered in Georgia. While a primary seat belt law is currently enforced, it is one of two states (Indiana) that makes an exception for those in pickup trucks. The Georgia Governor's Office of Highway Safety reports that only 62.5 percent of pickup truck occupants wear seat belts, compared to 83.5 percent of those in automobiles.