Buckle up: Today, seat belt use is mandatory in North Dakota

by: Keith Darnay

Posted: Aug 1, 2023 / 08:13 AM CDT

Updated: Aug 1, 2023 / 08:14 AM CDT

BISMARCK, ND (KXNET) North Dakota’s new mandatory seat belt law is now in effect.

As of August 1, all occupants of a vehicle must wear a seat belt, regardless of where they are sitting in the vehicle.

Also today, North Dakota’s seat belt law goes from secondary enforcement to primary enforcement. This means a person can be pulled over just for a seat belt violation.

According to the North Dakota Department of Transportation, preliminary data for 2022 indicates 69 percent of crash fatalities in the state were unbelted where seat belts were present in the vehicle.

The department also says research shows states that have primary seat belt enforcement have experienced up to a 10-12 percent increase in their observed seat belt use.

The primary seat belt law is in effect at the same time as an aggressive statewide traffic enforcement program starts and runs through August.

Called “Summer H.E.A.T. (Highway Enforcement of Aggressive Traffic),” the program will encourage everyone to wear a seat belt, use appropriate child passenger safety seats, follow all posted speed limits, and drive sober and distraction-free.

Another law that goes into effect today is the so-called “move over” law. It expands on a current statute that requires motorists to move over a lane, or slow down to a safe speed if unable to move over, when passing an emergency or highway maintenance vehicle alongside a highway when emergency lights are activated. The law will now also include stranded motorists when a vehicle’s emergency flashers are activated.

Other new or modified state laws go into effect today as well or at some point:

Gender-related laws: Those include two bills restricting transgender girls and women from participating on school sports teams matching their gender identity.

Other new laws will restrict sex amendments on birth records and bar transgender people from using restrooms and showers aligning with their identity in correctional facilities and public college dormitories.

Another bill that took effect in May prohibits transgender K-12 students from using restrooms aligning with their gender identity, among other restrictions. The Fargo School Board indicated it will defy the law.

One other bill, which took effect in April, criminalizes sex reassignment surgeries and gender-affirming care for minors.

Book banning: North Dakota lawmakers targeted sexual content in public libraries with a new law for removing or relocating “explicit sexual material” from public libraries’ children’s collections.

Republican Gov. Doug Burgum, who vetoed a broader bill allowing misdemeanor charges against librarians, said the new law “standardizes the process for local public libraries to review material when requested by parents, library users or other members of the public — a process already in place and working at nearly all public libraries across the state.”

Foreign ownership of farmland: Two new laws will ban foreign governments and adversaries from owning land in North Dakota. The legislation came amid concerns of Chinese ties to a company’s proposed corn milling plant near the Grand Forks Air Force Base.

One law has exemptions for Canada and for agricultural research on no more than 160 acres (64.75 hectares).

The other law also bans local government boards from advancing foreign adversaries’ development plans during a two-year legislative study into related issues.

Other states such as Hawaii, Iowa, Minnesota, Mississippi and Oklahoma also have laws banning foreign ownership of farmland.

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