AUGUSTA (AP) – Motorists in Maine who ride around without their seat belts on may have to change their habits.

Gov. John Baldacci’s proposed two-year budget would bolster the state’s present secondary seat belt law, which says motorists who are 18 or older must be stopped for another violation or defect before they can be issued a summons for being unbuckled.

The proposed budget seeks to change that, meaning that a police officer who observes a motorist without a safety belt on could issue a summons for that violation.

The change fits into the budget bill not so much for the extra fines it would generate, but as a way to prevent injuries and lost productivity.

due to injuries from highway crashes in which people weren’t properly restrained.

State Public Safety Commissioner Michael Cantara said federal and state studies show that people who are buckled sustain far fewer injuries from crashes, resulting in fewer hospital stays.

Medical treatment for injuries to people covered by public health insurance or who are not insured at all costs taxpayers money.

By preventing those injuries, state could save $133,000 over the biennium, only a tiny portion of the $5.7 billion total budget.

Under Maine’s current secondary seat belt law, nearly three-fourths of motorists use the restraints, Cantara said. The new proposal would bring most of the rest into compliance.