A driver who wears the seat belt strap under the arm rather than over the shoulder is not violating the state seat belt law, the Hawai'i Intermediate Court of Appeals has ruled.

A three-member panel of the appeals court threw out a seat belt citation issued to Denise Ribbel, who was driving a 1984 Ford convertible on Maui in 2003 and ordered to pay $77 in fines and fees.

Ribbel had buckled her seat belt with a strap across the lap, but tucked the upper strap under her arm because having the strap across her shoulder would cause her arm to "sleep," she told the Maui judge who found that she violated the seat belt law.

Ribbel represented herself in appealing the decision.

In the 15-page opinion written by Appeals Judge Corinne Watanabe and issued Tuesday, the appeals court said the state law only calls for a driver to be "restrained" by the seat belt assembly, not "properly restrained."

The court rejected the prosecution's contention that the state lawmakers intended for the law to mean "properly restrained."

The appeals court judges noted that the state Legislature passed a law requiring that passengers under the age of 4 must be "properly restrained," but that the lawmakers did not use that adverb for seat belt law for drivers.

Because Ribbel was "restrained" by the lap belt, the court dismissed the citation.

The appeals court ruling comes at a time when police are enforcing seat belt laws around the state in the annual "Click It or Ticket" campaign that began May 15 and ends June 3.

The appeals court ruling is binding on state judges who handle seat belt cases, but Michelle Yu, spokeswoman for the Honolulu Police Department, said the department's traffic division reports that citations for drivers who wear the shoulder strap under the arm are "rare."

"They hardly see it," she said.

Chief Appeals Judge James Burns and Appeals Judge Alexa Fujise joined in the decision.

Reach Ken Kobayashi at kkobayashi@honoluluadvertiser.com.