- March 1, 2025
Palm Coast drivers better buckle up: The Flagler County Sheriff's Office will be out in droves, enforcing the state’s "Click it or Ticket" seatbelt law for the rest of the month. The enforcement effort began Nov. 18 and will continue through Dec. 1.
"Florida has a primary seatbelt law, so (drivers) can be stopped simply for not wearing their seatbelts," Traffic Patrol Sergeant Michael Van Buren said.
Deputies survey drivers' compliance with the law before and after the effort, Van Buren said, and often they see a significant positive impact.
Last year, 77% of drivers stopped before the enforcement effort were wearing seatbelts. After a couple of weeks of enforcement, 85% of people stopped were wearing seatbelts.
For this year's Click it or Ticket effort, Van Buren said, deputies on motorcycles will be stationed along Cypress Pointe Parkway and Palm Coast Parkway near Old Kings Road.
A seatbelt violation, he said, is a nonmoving infraction carrying a $116 fine. A child restraint violation — failing to legally secure a child five years old or younger — is a moving violation that carries a fine of $166 and three points.
Under Florida law, anyone under 18 years of age must wear a seatbelt, and anyone of any age sitting in a front seat must be buckled in.
Often, Van Buren said, people caught not wearing their seatbelts are older folks who began driving before seatbelts were common. According to Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles data, he added, of 1450 traffic deaths of drivers and passengers in 2010, 54% of the victims — 777 — weren't wearing seatbelts.
During this year’s pre-enforcement survey, Van Buren said, only 76% of motorists were in compliance with the seatbelt law. He hopes that will change over the next few days.
“We’re doing a lot of education, as well, doing the stops and explaining why,” he said. “Putting a seatbelt on only takes a second to do, but once a crash happens, in that split second, it’s too late."
