I've never claimed to not be in the wrong, sure we didn't have our seatbelts on, but it wasn't something we both thought Hmm, I know, lets stick to the man by endangering ourselves.
Here is the Utah Traffic Law we 'violated'
http://www.le.state.ut.us/~code/TITLE41/htm/41_04225.htm
You'll note that in the first line it says "The operator of a motor vehicle operated on a
highway shall: wear a properly adjusted and fastened safety belt"
Merriam Webster defines
highway as: a public way; especially : a main direct road.
We were on public land... a single vehicle width trail that only a modified 4x4 could travel safely without suffering damage. This is far from a main direct road. And why the double standard as far as safety is concerned? There is no helmet law in utah, and there were a number of atv's and motorcycles passed on our way up that were carrying passengers and riding without helmets... their plight would be much worse if an accident occured than mine would have been had i rearended my buddy at 3 mph.
Returning to Utah's current seatbelt law, you'll note that drivers ticketed for no seat belts can only be ticketed if they were stopped for another traffic violation or suspicion thereof. When stopped, the officers made it clear that was the only reason they had stopped us, both of us have current registration, mud flaps and such covering the tires etc etc., "For a person 19 years of age or older who violates Subsection (1)(a) or (2), enforcement by a state or local law enforcement officer shall be only as a secondary action when the person has been detained for a suspected violation of Title 41, Motor Vehicles, other than Subsection (1)(a) or (2), or for another offense."
We were basically victims of that nights ticket quota, and it pisses me off. We both drove out of there pissed off as well as those riding with us. If roles had been swapped and I were the policeman, I would have seen that the situation was unique, and these boys probably just forgot their seat belts as they were jumping in and out of their jeeps, or worse still, didn't realize a seat belt law applies in the back country.
All 4x4 safety issues aside (thanks for the brow beating), would anyone guess that a highway click it or ticket campaign would apply to a 4x4 trail 10 miles from the nearest paved road?
As far was what was said to the policemen... we inquired as to why they stopped us, to which they said because we had driven past them without seatbelts, to which we asked if the law applied on a dirt road, and pointed down the trail to where we were just standing outside our jeeps looking down the hill we had just climbed. You bet I have a big chip on my shoulder, and its because we were nothing but pleasant and neighborly to these two officers, and they still came back with little or no sympathy, then had the audacity to say "enjoy the rest of your night". It was as we were driving away that my distaste for these two officers started to brew, I had no problem before as I appreciate knowing when I'm in the wrong, and will do my best to correct my actions and comply with the law.
Ticket wise maybe a warning would have been good, but then again each situation is different 
