Drivers get bucks for buckling up

When Prince George's County Police officer Katina Bethea flagged down the car entering the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration lot in Largo on Tuesday, the driver wondered whether she'd done something wrong.

Instead, Bethea told her that she was going to be rewarded for doing something right -- wearing her seat belt.

And Bethea handed the driver a dollar for obeying the law.

"Are you serious?" the driver said, flashing a smile. "Oh, my God."

Officers and driver-safety advocates handed out hundreds of dollars Tuesday to motorists who had all of the occupants of their vehicles wearing seat belts. Anyone who didn't have a seat belt on was given a verbal warning and literature about seat belt laws.

"I was shocked," said Stella Paige, a faithful seat belt wearer who received her dollar bill. "But it's fantastic that they are doing this."

The Buckle Up for a Buck program, which is in its third year, is run by the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration, the Maryland State Highway Administration's Highway Safety Office and the Prince George's County Police Department.

Prince George's leads the state in motor vehicle deaths, according to the Highway Safety Office.

Prince George's Federal Credit Union donated the money for the program.

-- Ovetta Wiggins