We derived an estimate by disregarding states in which fine levels are completely discretionary. State legislatures have clearly viewed seat belt laws as being less important than child restraint and stop sign laws, based on the penalty structures they have provided for these offenses. Stop sign penalties are more than twice as severe as those for adult seat belt violations and substantially higher than those for child restraint violations. Only two jurisdictions, New Mexico and the District of Columbia, currently assess driver license penalty points for adult seat belt law violations. Fourteen states and DC assess points for child restraint violations.
All states having point systems assess points for stop sign violations.
The fifteen states not having point systems use some method of counting traffic law violations to determine driving privileges. All fifteen include stop sign violations in these evaluations. All 51 jurisdictions record stop sign violations of the driving record. Child restraint violations are included on driver records in 28 jurisdictions while belt law violations only go on the record in 19 jurisdictions. Information on drivers' records is routinely available to insurance companies for determining driver ratings and insurance costs.