Police Chief Joseph Ferreira said his department will be more active in citing drivers who fail to wear seat belts.
The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously to approve a resolution that would encourage Somerset police to write more tickets for the offense.
“What we’re saying is it’s preferred for our officers to cite anyone driving in town without a seat belt,” Ferreira said.
It is against the law to drive without wearing a seat belt in Massachusetts, though Ferreira said individual officers have considerable discretion as to whether they write a ticket.
“What the resolution says, what our policy is now, is that it’s preferred for officers to cite people driving without a seat belt,” Ferreira said.
Ferreira said a resolution from the selectmen or from the department itself cannot mandate officers to write tickets in every case of someone caught driving without a seat belt.
“We can’t tell our guys to cite them,” Ferreira said. [...]

Original post by Marc Munroe Dion