South Carolina's seat-belt law gets tougher this Friday, and Pee Dee authorities plan to get tougher on those who aren't buckling up.

The state will turn to a primary seat-belt law, which means an officer can stop a vehicle if a driver or occupant of any age isn't buckled up or in a child-restraint system.

Currently, if a driver or passenger is older than 18 and not wearing a seat belt, the driver can be cited only if he or she had already been stopped for another reason.

"I do expect to see more people buckling up," said S.C. Highway Patrol Senior Trooper Sonny Collins. "I think most people want to obey the law, and when this law goes into effect, I expect it to be treated as any other law and that most people will abide by it."

Darlington Police Lt. Danny Watson said he also thinks the possibility of a $25 fine will convince people to perform the simple task of buckling up.

"I think sometimes folks need a gentle nudge in the right direction to do the right thing," he said. "And I think this may be that gentle nudge."

The current seat-belt law, however, allows an officer to stop a driver if any person younger than 17 is not wearing a seat belt or in a child-restraint system while in a vehicle.

Pee Dee law enforcement officials say officers will be paying especially close attention starting Friday for anyone who's not buckled up.

"Certainly our officers will be on a greater heightened awareness as of Dec. 9" for those who violate the new law, said Florence Police Inspector Allen Heidler.

And officials say the new law isn't a scheme to give tickets and make money.

"The whole idea behind the seat-belt law is to save lives," Heidler said. "It's not an opportunity for law enforcement to stop people" and write citations.

As of Wednesday, 58 more people died on South Carolina roads than during all of 2004, according to statistics from the S.C. Department of Public Safety.

"So many times we see a minor to moderate crash end up in a fatality just for failure to use that seat belt," Collins said.

More than half of the 1,005 people killed as of Wednesday on South Carolina roads weren't buckled up during the fatal crashes, according to the department's statistics.

Nearly 80 percent of 1,005 people had access to a seat belt, the department's statistics show. That percentage includes passengers inside cars, trucks and vans, while the total number of fatalities also includes pedestrians, cyclists and others.

"I think this is one of those laws that everyone can get behind," Watson said.

An officer cannot give a citation to someone not wearing their seat belt when stopping at a public-safety checkpoint, Collins said.

The officer could cite a person, however, for refusing an officer's command to buckle up, Heidler said.

Drivers and passengers shouldn't shun seat belts and depend solely on air bags, Watson said, because a seat belt will help hold a person in place during a crash so the air bag can further cushion the person.