BTS | Table 2-4: Key Provisions of Safety Belt Use Laws: 2003

Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) - Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) - United States Department of Transportation (USDOT, US DOT or DOT)

ABOUT RITA | CONTACT US | PRESS ROOM | CAREERS | SITE MAP

Data and Statistics

Bookstore

Programs

About BTS

Upcoming Press Releases

External Links

BTS Home > Publications > State Transportation Statistics > State Transportation Statistics 2005

Table 2-4: Key Provisions of Safety Belt Use Laws: 2003

Excel | CSV

State	Effective¹	Enforcement²	Fine	Seats covered	Vehicles exempted²¹
Alabama	7/18/1992	Primary	$25	Front	Designed for >10 passengers; model year <1965. Exemptions for medical reasons, rural mail carriers, and paper delivery.
Alaska	9/12/1990	Secondary	$15	All	School bus.
Arizona	1/1/1991	Secondary	$10	All	Designed for >10 passengers; model year < 1972.
Arkansas	7/15/1991	Secondary	$25	Front	School, church, or public bus; model year <1968.
California	1/1/1986	Primary	$20	All	None.
Colorado	7/1/1987	Secondary³	$17	Front	Passenger bus, school bus
Connecticut	1/1/1986	Primary	$37	Front¹⁵	Truck or bus >15,000 lbs.
Delaware	1/1/1992	Primary	$25	All	Postal service vehicles.
District of Columbia	12/12/1985	Primary	$50⁸	All	Seating >8 people.
Florida	7/1/1986	Secondary	$30	Front¹⁶	School bus, public bus, truck >5,000 lbs.
Georgia	9/1/1988	Primary	$15	Front¹⁶	Designed for >10 passengers; pickup; offroad; rural letter carriers; emergency vehicles.
Hawaii	2/16/1985	Primary	$45	Front¹⁶	Bus or school bus >10,000 lbs.
Idaho	7/1/1986	Secondary	$10⁹	All	>8,000 lbs.
Illinois	7/1/1985	Primary	$25	Front	Emergency vehicles, frequent stops, medical or physical reasons
Indiana	7/1/1987	Primary	$25	Front¹⁷	Truck, tractor, RV.
Iowa	7/1/1986	Primary	$25	Front	None.
Kansas	7/1/1986	Secondary	$10	Front	Designed for >10 people; truck >12,000 lbs.
Kentucky	7/13/1994	Secondary	$25	All	Designed for >10 people; truck >12,000 lbs.
Louisiana	7/1/1986	Primary	$25¹⁰	Front	Designed for >10 people; model year <1981.
Maine	12/27/1995	Secondary	$25-$50	All	None.
Maryland	7/1/1986	Primary	$25	Front	Historic vehicle, taxi, written medical excuse
Massachusetts	2/1/1994	Secondary	$25	All	Truck >18,000 lbs; bus and taxi operators.
Michigan	7/1/1985	Primary	$25	Front¹⁵	Taxi, bus, school bus.
Minnesota	8/1/1986	Secondary	$25	Front¹⁸	Farm pickup truck.
Mississippi	3/20/1990	Secondary	$25	Front¹⁹	Farm vehicle, bus; exemptions for medical reasons and letter carriers.
Missouri	9/28/1985	Secondary⁴	$10	Front¹⁵	Designed for >10 people; truck >12,000 lbs; postal workers; vehicle being used for agriculture
Montana	10/1/1987	Secondary	$20	All	None.
Nebraska	1/1/1993	Secondary	$25	Front¹⁵	Model year <1973.
Nevada	7/1/1987	Secondary	$25	All	Taxi, bus, school bus.
New Hampshire	None	No adult law	NA	NA²⁰	School bus, vehicle for hire; model year <1968.
New Jersey	3/1/1985	Primary	$42¹¹	Front¹⁶	<1966; medical exemption; rural letter carriers; vehicles not required to be equipped with safety belts under Federal law.
New Mexico	1/1/1986	Primary	$25⁸	All	>10,000 lbs.
New York	12/1/1984	Primary	$50-$100¹²	Front¹⁵	Bus, school bus, taxi, emergency vehicle, rural letter carriers
North Carolina	10/1/1985	Primary	$25	Front	Designed for >11 people; farm vehicle drivers; rural mail carriers on official business; medical reasons; all safety belts already in use.
North Dakota	7/14/1994	Secondary⁵	$20	Front	Designed for >10 people.
Ohio	5/6/1986	Secondary	$25	Front	None.
Oklahoma	2/1/1987	Primary	$20	Front	Farm vehicle, truck, truck tractor, RV.
Oregon	12/7/1990	Primary	$75	All	Newspaper, mail, meter, transit vehicle.²²
Pennsylvania	11/23/1987	Secondary⁶	$10	Front	Truck >7,000 lbs.
Rhode Island	6/18/1991	Secondary	$50	All	None.
South Carolina	7/1/1989	Secondary	$10	All	School bus, public bus; vehicle with no belts in rear seating areas.
South Dakota	1/1/1995	Secondary⁵	$20	Front	Passenger bus, school bus; medical reasons, rural mail carriers on official business; newspaper or periodical deliveries.
Tennessee	4/21/1986	Secondary	$10	Front	>8,500 lbs.
Texas	9/1/1985	Primary	$25-$200	Front	Designed for >10 people, truck over 15,000 lbs, farm vehicle.
Utah	4/28/1986	Secondary⁷	$45¹³	All	Medical reasons; all seats occupied.
Vermont	1/1/1994	Secondary	$10	All	Bus, taxi.
Virginia	1/1/1988	Secondary	$25	Front	Designed for >10 people, taxi.
Washington	6/11/1986	Primary	$86	All	Designed for >10 people.
West Virginia	9/1/1993	Secondary	$25	Front	Designed for >10 people.
Wisconsin	12/1/1987	Secondary	$10	All	Taxi, farm truck.
Wyoming	6/8/1989	Secondary	$25¹⁴	All	Persons with physical/medical exemption documented by physician's signature; postal vehicles; all seats occupied.

¹ Effective date of first belt law in the state; ² Primary enforcement enables police officers to stop vehicles and write citations whenever they observe a violation of the seat belt law. Secondary enforcement allows police officers to write a citation for seat belt infractions only after stopping a vehicle for some other traffic infraction; ³ Primary enforcement for all positions if driver is under 17 years of age; ⁴ Primary for children under 16 years of age; ⁵ Primary enforcement for all positions if occupant is under 18 years of age; ⁶ The fine is $10, but with court, EMS, judicial, and computer costs the ticket total is $51.50; ⁷ Primary enforcement for all positions if occupant is under 19 years of age; ⁸ Plus 2 points on license; ⁹ Plus costs; ¹⁰ $25 for first offence, $50 for second offense, $50 plus court costs for third offense; ¹¹$42 for safety belt violation, $10-$25 for child seat violation; ¹² Plus 3 points on license. Front seat passengers 16 and older can be fined up to $50 and drivers can be fined up to $100 for each passenger under 16 not wearing a seat belt; ¹³ Reduced to $15 upon completion of class; ¹⁴ Fine for driver is $25, fine for passengers over 12 years is $10; ¹⁵ All seats for under 16; ¹⁶ All seats for under 18; ¹⁷ All seats for under 12; ¹⁸ All seats for under 11; ¹⁹ All seats for under 8; ²⁰ All seats for under 18, primary law, $25 fine; ²¹ Most states exempt vehicles not manufactured with seatbelts; ²² Police/emergency vehicles exempted in some situations.

KEY: NA = not applicable; RV = recreational vehicle.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Traffic Safety Facts 2004 Early Edition, Washington, DC: 2005, available at http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/NCSA/TSFAnn/ TSF2004EE.pdf as of Nov. 21, 2005.