so true...

But it was in a parking lot and only for l, what, 10 feet? Cop is in the wrong. OP shouldnt have been fined.

We don't KNOW it was "only 10 ft" (why re-park to gain only an extra car length?). And a lot can happen even in a short distance, at a slow speed.

#88: "My friend parked between two other cars and as I was about to get out of the car, he said, "hold on, I'm gonna move to that spot", since he noticed the parking spot in front of him had more room. So he slowly drove forward for a few meters and then we were parked again. " "If we'd have stayed in our original parking spot then we'd have to carefully squeeze ourselves out of our doors and try to avoid our doors waving open against another car. But the spot in front of us had just that little bit of extra space. The cars parked next to it were actually properly parked, allowing us to get out of our car comfortably." Since he only moved 'a few meters', we DO know he didn't travel more than about 10 feet. He didn't move to 'gain an extra car length', he moved to the new spot because it had more WIDTH, making it easier to exit without having to worry about damaging the neighbouring cars or contorting himself through a narrow opening. The way OP has presented the story, he entered one spot, realized that the spot on the opposite side of the column would be easier to exit, and inched forward. If that is indeed how it happened, then at that point he wasn't even driving on the pathways between parking spots, he went directly from one to the other! 'a lot can happen even in a short distance, at a slow speed' my ass. My parents drive through to the next spot all the time, and I could CRAWL faster than the car goes when they do. For the life of me I can't even imagine a scenario where a car moving at that speed for that distance would be dangerous to anything beyond a snail.

Huh?

Google is your friend... Anyways why would you downvote something

*without bothering to see what it means ?

For those too lazy to check, it's Latin which translates to "The law is harsh, but it is the law"

#17 said "The law is harsh, but it is the law." And it's a Latin phrase.

If it's an immoral or unjust law, people should fight it. A seatbelt is not mandatory in a parking lot.

Op unbuckled himself, His friend shouldn't have to pay the ticket.

sorry misread.

She's Belgian.

Wouldn't your friend have backed you up?

My dad was fined for no seatbelt in a parking lot too, and I'm in the US. It's not just Belgium:)

Yeah but in the US it is considered private property and based on that alone you can say, "did the officer see me on the road without a seatbelt?" and if the answer is no, you're pretty much free to go.

I think you can still fight it. Courts are designed to fight for the intention of the law, not the letter of it. If you get lucky with a realistic judge, maybe you'll be off the hook! you were in the process of parking. Most people I know actually unbuckle before they park - and there's really no reason it should be unacceptable for a passenger to do the same.

#75 I think it really depends on your state's laws. In my state, it's illegal to not wear your seatbelt, but they can't stop you for it; only way you can be fined is if they've stopped you for a separate violation and you're not wearing one.

That's so much money just for not wearing your seatbelt!

Why didn't your friend try to defend you?

I doubt the officer would have believed the friend either

#103, that's because the price of not wearing your seatbelt could be being projected through your windshield breaking your neck and dying in the ditch. They do that to try to encourage people to wear their seatbelts.

113, or becoming a human cannonball and flying into everyone else in the car during an accident.

I was driving through Belgium and once almost got a ticket for driving through a yellow light, which is legal in the US. He only let us go, I think, because he didn't want to deal with my bad French. So I know how odd the traffic system is there. In the US, the parking lot is private property so you can't get a ticket. I would try to fight it any way. They may throw it out just to avoid all the paperwork.

According to my town my grandma's driveway was a street

holy crap. the seat belt fine here in Tennessee is only $10 for the first offense and $20 for each thereafter. that sucks, op. :/

I'm surprised the officer was close enough to see that you were unbuckled but far enough to not see you pull out of the first spot. I call officer BS.

You're supposed to stop, but if you can't stop safely you're allowed to 'ignore' the orange light. Eg when a truck is right behind you, and he won't be able to stop right away so by breaking you create a dangerous situation. To me, it's logical but I can see it's weird to foreigners :)

Replying in Dutch since this is easier: in België is een parking privé domein met openbaar karakter. Ik zou toch proberen. Al gelden de verkeersregels wel, zoals voorrang van rechts.

#38 and #45 don't use the word "retarded", it can be offensive to some.

You can definitely get tickets in parking lots.

#127, that's the point.

Why do most people you know unbuckle before they park? I don't understand why you'd make the conscious decision to unbuckle before you pull into a space, what's the benefit?

OP already said in Belgium parking lots are still public roads.

read #28 ;)