How Safe Driving Affects Everyone – And What Nebraska Is Doing About It

Last Updated on October 18, 2026

By James Shaffer Reviewed by Thomas Rockford, insurance industry executive and financial analyst, on October 18, 2026 How we fact-check

Lawmakers in Nebraska have spent more than a decade trying to strengthen the state’s traffic safety laws, and most of those attempts have failed. Bills introduced in 2013 would have let police stop a driver for a seat belt violation alone, required everyone in the car to buckle up, and raised the fines. As of October 2026 none of that is law: a seat belt ticket in Nebraska is still a secondary offense with a $25 fine and no points, and so is texting while driving. The goal behind the bills has not changed: safer roads, fewer preventable deaths and, with them, more stable insurance rates for everyone.

Two of the 2013 bills focused on seat belt use. Senator John Harms of Scottsbluff introduced LB 189, which would have allowed police officers to stop a vehicle solely because the driver wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. Under Nebraska law, then and now, failure to wear a seatbelt is a secondary offense, meaning drivers must be pulled over for another violation first, such as speeding or running a red light. Harms’ proposal would have made seat belt enforcement a primary violation, in line with most of the country.

The Governors Highway Safety Association counts 35 states and the District of Columbia with primary seat belt laws for front-seat occupants, as of its March 2025 review. Fourteen states, Nebraska among them, still treat an adult’s seat belt violation as a secondary offense, and New Hampshire remains the only state that does not require adults to wear a seat belt at all.

  • Nebraska lawmakers have tried since 2013 to toughen the seat belt and texting laws; as of October 2026 both are still secondary offenses.
  • Changing seat belt violations from secondary to primary enforcement could significantly improve compliance statewide.
  • Texting while driving already costs $200 for a first offense, $300 for a second and $500 after that, plus 3 license points, even though police can only ticket it after stopping you for something else.
  • Safer driving lowers crash risks and helps prevent rising insurance premiums for all Nebraska motorists.

Changing Nebraska’s Seat Belt Laws

Harms’ bill would have raised the fine from $25 to $100 and put a point on the license. It did not pass. Under current law a seat belt violation carries a $25 fine, no points, and only one ticket per stop no matter how many people in the car are unbelted. Points still matter for everything else: accumulate too many in any state and you risk losing your license, and your insurance premiums may also rise. Avoiding driver’s license points comes down to one thing — following the law and practicing safe driving.

The bill would also have applied to passengers. At the February 2013 committee hearing, the trauma medical director at the University of Nebraska Medical Center testified that more than 75 percent of crash victims declared dead at the scene were not wearing seat belts, and Harms cited state health department figures putting emergency room costs at about $5,000 for an unbelted patient against $2,000 for a belted one.

“It’s all about safety,” Harms said at the time. “If you get seriously injured and your insurance runs out, then the state may end up taking over the cost. That’s one of my big concerns as well.”

When the state absorbs too many high-cost injuries, premiums rise for everyone. By improving seat belt compliance, Nebraska hopes to keep both residents and insurance rates stable.

A second 2013 bill, LB 10 from Senator Bob Krist of Omaha, went further. It would have required all passengers, including adults in the back seat, to wear seat belts. It did not pass either. Nebraska’s adult belt law still covers only the driver and front-seat occupants; children and teens under 18 must be restrained in every seat. GHSA counts 42 states and the District of Columbia with rear-seat belt laws and eight states without one, Nebraska among them.

“It doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Krist said in 2013. “In a crash, whatever is unbuckled in the back seat is going to come forward into the front seat. It just seemed logical to me that everyone in the vehicle should be belted.” His bill would also have made seat belt enforcement a primary offense.

Texting and Driving

Harms also wanted to strengthen Nebraska’s law on texting and driving. When the law was first passed in 2010, some lawmakers argued that making texting a primary offense could lead to profiling or overuse of traffic stops. As a compromise, texting while driving became a secondary offense, and it still is: the statute says enforcement “shall be accomplished only as a secondary action” after a driver has been stopped for something else. Senators have tried to change that since, most recently with LB 1033 in 2024, which got a committee hearing and went no further.

The penalties are real even so: $200 for a first offense, $300 for a second and $500 for a third or later offense, plus three points on your license. Those points, and the conviction behind them, are what an insurer sees when it pulls your record at renewal.

Nationally, the trend has run the other way. As of July 2026 the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety counts 32 states and the District of Columbia that ban all handheld phone use for every driver and another 17 states that ban texting. Nebraska is in the second group, and the Nebraska Examiner reported in January 2024 that it was one of only three states where police cannot stop a driver for texting alone.

Spurring Change

The numbers have not improved. The Nebraska Department of Transportation’s fatality history shows 181 deaths on Nebraska roads in 2011 and 211 in 2013, the year these bills were heard. 2024 was the worst year since 2007, at 251, and 2025 closed at 227. Occupant protection is still one of the priority areas of NDOT’s Highway Safety Office.

Supporters of the 2013 bills included Craig Bougher of Papillion, who told reporters at the time that a crash involving his daughter changed his views. His daughter’s SUV was struck by a pickup truck, sending her into a utility pole. While she survived, the other driver — who was unbelted — was ejected and died at the scene.

“I’m not out for another law, but at the same time, this guy died, and he didn’t need to,” Bougher said.

Whether or not Nebraska ever changes these laws, the story is a reminder for all drivers to take stock of their own habits. Stay attentive, buckle up, and keep your focus on the road. Safe driving protects your life, your passengers, and your wallet — reducing the likelihood of costly accidents, citations, and insurance claims.

My advice is to ignore the fact that a Nebraska seat belt ticket is only $25 and carries no points, because the belt is not about the ticket. Buckle everyone in the back seat too, and if you drive for a living, ask your insurer what its telematics program pays, since a phone that stays in your pocket is worth more there than it is to the state.

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Checked October 18, 2026