State Senate votes to extend RI's mandatory seatbelt law

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The state Senate voted 29 to 8 Tuesday to repeal the expiration of a law that allows the police to stop drivers just for failing to wear a seat belt, but in a different form than the one that was passed by the House.

The mandatory seat-belt law is set to expire Sunday if the legislature doesn't extend it. The House did that in May, voting to delete the law's expiration date. The Senate version lifts that expiration, too, but it also cuts the $85 fine for violating the law to $40; the House bill left the $85 fine intact.

House and Senate leaders are expected to meet to resolve the differences, then have one or both chambers vote again.