Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.
The credibility determinations of a hearing court are accorded great deference on appeal, and will not be disturbed unless clearly unsupported by the record ( see People v Umadat, 29 AD3d 830; People v Cameron, 6 AD3d 546; People v Jakins, 277 AD2d 328). The record supports the hearing court's determination to credit the testimony of a state trooper that he was able to observe that the defendant was not wearing a safety belt in violation of Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1229-c (3) ( see People v Umadat, 29 AD3d 830; People v James, 19 AD3d 617, 618). This observation, as distinguished from mere pretext ( see People v David, 223 AD2d 551; People v Smith, 181 AD2d 802, 803), justified the trooper's stop of the vehicle ( see Whren v United States, 517 US 806, 810; People v Robinson, 97 NY2d 341, 349; People v Robinson, 38 AD3d 572, 573). Accordingly, the hearing court properly denied that branch of the defendant's omnibus motion which was to suppress physical evidence.