Like it or not, it's against the law to drive without wearing a seat belt.

And on Sept. 12, Sept. 19. or Sept. 22, if you break that law you could be pulled over and hit with a $65 fine.

MSU police announced they will stake out certain areas of campus on the above dates for one simple goal - to catch you without your seat belt on. This is part of a statewide push to enforce seat-belt usage. MSU police did the same in early April.

Despite what Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor says, this is a trap. What would you call an area staked out by police who are waiting for people to commit a crime? It's an unfair trap and isn't the best way to go about educating drivers to wear their safety belts.

How about billboards or commercials simply warning of the fine? Maybe more road signs that advertise the penalty for breaking the law. The thought of losing $65 should be enough to entice people to wear their belts.

That's not to say the price of the fine is wrong. The price, when compared to a speeding ticket, is fitting. Both, however, are too high.

It's not unreasonable to question the motives behind these belt traps, and it wouldn't be surprising if money is one of them. It seems almost impossible to drive on campus and in the city without incurring a few automobile-related fines each year.

The purpose of the campaign is to encourage people to wear their seat belts; we're not arguing the validity of it. It's OK to fine people for not wearing a belt, just don't set up a trap to do it. Not wearing the life-saving strap is a decision that hurts the person who makes it.

Compare this, if you will, to illegal-drug usage. On the face of the issue, it's a crime to take a drug. The person choosing to take an illegal drug is, therefore, committing a crime. It's a crime that directly harms the person who has made that decision. Why isn't there some sort of mandated drug trap for drug users?

The fact remains that wearing a seat belt is just a smart thing to do. And by printing a story in The State News, it's likely to reach more people than the actual initiative.

Law enforcement should take this editorial as a clue and shift the money spent on man hours toward advertising or other methods that don't seek to teach people a lesson through punishment.

There are better things the officers on duty for this campaign could be doing with their time, and better ways to push seat-belt enforcement.