BTS | Table 2-3: Key Provisions of Safety Belt Use Laws: 2001

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Table 2-3: Key Provisions of Safety Belt Use Laws: 2001

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State	Effective¹	Enforcement ²	Fine	Seats	Vehicles exempted⁶
Alabama	7/18/1992	Primary	$25	Front	Designed for more than 10 passengers; model year before 1965
Alaska	9/12/1990	Secondary	$15	All	School bus
Arizona	1/1/1991	Secondary	$10	Front	Designed for more than 10 passengers; model year before 1972
Arkansas	7/15/1991	Secondary	$25⁴	Front	School bus, church bus, public bus; model year before 1968
California	1/1/1986	Primary	$20	All	None
Colorado	7/1/1987	Secondary³	$15	Front³	Passenger bus, school bus
Connecticut	1/1/1986	Primary	$37	Front	Truck or bus over 15,000 lbs.
Delaware	1/1/1992	Secondary	$20	Front	Postal service vehicles
District of Columbia	12/12/1985	Primary	$50⁴	All	Seating more than 8 people
Florida	7/1/1986	Secondary	$30	Front	School bus, public bus, truck over 5,000 lbs.
Georgia	9/1/1988	Primary	$15	Front	Designed for more than 10 passengers, pickup truck
Hawaii	2/16/1985	Primary	$20	Front	Bus or school bus over 10,000 lbs.
Idaho	7/1/1986	Secondary	$5	Front	Over 8,000 lbs.
Illinois	7/1/1985	Secondary	$25	Front	None
Indiana	7/1/1987	Primary	$25	Front	Truck, tractor, RV
Iowa	7/1/1986	Primary	$25	Front	None
Kansas	7/1/1986	Secondary	$10	Front	Designed for more than 10 people, truck over 12,000 lbs.
Kentucky	7/13/1994	Secondary	$25	All	Designed for more than 10 people
Louisiana	7/1/1986	Primary	$25	Front	Designed for more than 10 people; model year before 1981
Maine	12/27/1995	Secondary	$60	All	Manufactured without seat belts
Maryland	7/1/1986	Primary	$25	Front	Historic vehicle
Massachusetts	2/1/1994	Secondary	$25	All	Truck over 18,000 lbs., bus, taxi operators
Michigan	7/1/1985	Primary	$25	Front	Taxi, bus, school bus
Minnesota	8/1/1986	Secondary	$25	Front	Farm pickup truck
Mississippi	3/20/1990	Secondary	$25	Front	Farm vehicle, bus
Missouri	9/28/1985	Secondary	$10	Front	Designed for more than 10 people, truck over 12,000 lbs.
Montana	10/1/1987	Secondary	$20	All	None
Nebraska	1/1/1993	Secondary	$25	Front	Model year before 1973
Nevada	7/1/1987	Secondary	$25	All	Taxi, bus, school bus
New Hampshire	None	NA	NA	NA	NA
New Jersey	3/1/1985	Primary	$42	Front	None
New Mexico	1/1/1986	Primary	$25⁴	All	Over 10,000 lbs.
New York	12/1/1984	Primary	$50	Front	Bus, school bus, taxi, emergency vehicle
North Carolina	10/1/1985	Primary	$25	Front	Designed for more than 10 people
North Dakota	7/14/1994	Secondary	$20	Front	Designed for more than 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
Pennsylvania	11/23/1987	Secondary	$10	Front	Truck over 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
South Dakota	1/1/1995	Secondary	$20	Front	Bus, school bus
Tennessee	4/21/1986	Secondary	$10	Front	Over 8,500 lbs.
Texas	9/1/1985	Primary	$50	Front	Designed for more than 10 people, truck over 15,000 lbs.
Utah	4/28/1986	Secondary	$45	All	None
Vermont	1/1/1994	Secondary	$10	All	Bus, taxi
Virginia	1/1/1988	Secondary	$25	Front	Designed for more than 10 people, taxi
Washington	6/11/1986	Secondary	$71	All	Designed for more than 10 people
West Virginia	9/1/1993	Secondary	$25	Front	Designed for more than 10 people
Wisconsin	12/1/1987	Secondary	$10	All	Taxi, farm truck
Wyoming	6/8/1989	Secondary	$25⁵	All	Designed for more than 11 people, bus

¹Effective date of first belt law in the state;²Primary 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;³Primary enforcement for all positions if driver is under 18 years;⁴Plus 2 points on license;⁵Fine for driver is $25; fine for passengers over 12 years is $10;⁶Most states exempt vehicles not manufactured with seat belts.

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

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Traffic Safety Facts 2002 Early Edition, Washington, DC: 2003, available at http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/NCSA/TSFAnn/TSF2002.pdf as of Oct. 1, 2003.