Seat Belt Law In Usa

By Author: Augustine Joseph
Total Articles: 16
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Most of the seat belt legislation in the United States is left to each state. However, the first seat belt law was a federal law which took effect on January 1, 1968 which required all vehicles except for buses to be fitted with seat belts in all designated seating positions. This law has since been modified to require
*Three-point seat belts in outboard seating positions, &
*Finally three-point seat belts in all seating positions.
Initially, using of seat belt was not compulsory. New York was the first state to pass a law which required vehicle occupants to wear seat belts, a law that came into effect on December 1, 1984.
Enforcement:
U.S. seatbelt legislation can be subjected to primary enforcement or secondary enforcement.
Primary enforcement allows a police officer to stop and ticket a driver if s/he observes a violation.
Secondary enforcement refers to us that a police officer can only stop or cite a driver for a seatbelt violation if the driver committed another primary violation such as speeding, running a stop sign, etc…
New Hampshire is the only U.S. state that does ...
... not by law require drivers to wear safety belts while operating a motor vehicle.
When a person involved in a car accident who wasn’t using a seatbelt may be liable for damages far greater than if they had been using a seatbelt. However, when in court, most states protect motorists from having their damages reduced in a lawsuit due to the nonuse of a seatbelt, even if they were acting in violation of the law by not wearing the seatbelt. Currently, damages may be reduced for the nonuse of a seatbelt in 16 states like:
*Alaska, *Arizona, *California, *Colorado, *Florida, *Iowa, *Michigan, *Missouri, *Nebraska, *New Jersey, *New York, *North Dakota, *Ohio, *Oregon, *West Virginia, and *Wisconsin.
Safety Belt Laws:
There are mandatory safety belt laws in all states except New Hampshire. In some states, laws are only for cover front-seat occupants, but belt laws in 26 states and the District of Columbia cover all rear-seat occupants, too.
Belt use laws in 32 states and the District of Columbia are primary, which means police may stop vehicles solely for belt law violations. In other jurisdictions, police must have some other reason to stop a vehicle before citing an occupant for failing to buckle up.
Safety belt law allows the safety belt defense, which can reduce damages collected by someone in a crash/ accident if the person failed to buckle up. The reduction is permitted only for injuries that would have been prevented by a belt. In some states, the reduction may not exceed a fixed percentage of the damages.
Children Restraint Seat-Belt Laws:
All 50 states and the District of Columbia have child restraint laws. Child restraint laws require children to travel in approved child restraint devices, and some permit or require older children to use adult safety belts. The age at which belts can be used instead of child restraints differs among the states. Young children usually are covered by child restraint laws, while safety belt laws cover older children and adults.
Enforcement and fines differ under belt use and child restraint laws, it’s important to know which law is being violated when a child isn’t restrained. Most child restraint laws are primary, meaning police may stop vehicles solely for child restraint violations.
Where else, Nebraska and Ohio leave some children under a secondary enforcement law, meaning that police must have an additional reason to make a stop. Nebraska’s law is secondary only for those children who may be in safety belts and primary for those who must be in a child restraint device. Ohio’s law is secondary for children ages 4 through 14 years.
Ideally, all infants and children in all vehicles should be covered by enforceable safety belt laws or child restraint laws or both. But differences in the way the laws in various states are worded result in many occupants, especially children, being covered by neither law. Lawmakers have eliminated most of these gaps by amending their child restraint and safety belt laws. Still,
*15-year-olds riding in the rear seat in Arkansas, Alabama and Ohio,
*Children of age 7 and older riding in the rear seat in Mississippi, &
*Children of age 13 through 15 riding in the rear seat in Oklahoma are covered by neither law.
Where else all children younger than 16 years in all other 45 states and the District of Columbia are covered by one law or both laws.