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Buckle up! The easiest way to prevent injury or death is to buckle your seat belt. The amount of deaths and serious injusires that could have been prevented by wearing a seat belt is staggering. Be stern with friends and family by demanding that they wear their seat belts. It's so easy people, just buckle up!
| State |
Initial
effective date |
Standard enforcement? |
Who is covered? In what seats? |
Maximum fine 1st offense |
Damages reduced for nonuse? |
| Alabama |
7/18/91 |
yes; effective 12/9/99 |
15+ yrs. in front seat (eff. 7/1/06) |
$25 |
no |
| Alaska |
9/12/90 |
yes; effective 5/1/06 |
16+ yrs. in all seats |
$15 |
yes |
| Arizona |
1/1/91 |
no |
5+ yrs. in front seat;5 through 15 in all seats |
$10 |
yes |
| Arkansas |
7/15/91 |
no |
15+ yrs. in front seat |
$25 |
no |
| California |
1/1/86 |
yes; effective 1/1/93 |
16+ yrs. in all seats |
$20 |
no |
| Colorado |
7/1/87 |
no |
16+ yrs. in front seat |
$15 |
yes |
| Connecticut |
1/1/86 |
yes |
7+ yrs. in front seat |
$15 |
no |
| Delaware |
1/1/92 |
yes; effective 6/30/03 |
16+ yrs. in all seats |
$25 |
no |
| District of Columbia |
12/12/85 |
yes; effective 10/1/97 |
16+ yrs. in all seats |
$50 |
no |
| Florida |
7/1/86 |
no |
6+ yrs. in front seat; 6 through 17 yrs. in all seats |
$30 |
yes |
| State |
Initial
effective date |
Standard enforcement? |
Who is covered? In what seats? |
Maximum fine 1st offense |
Damages reduced for nonuse? |
| Georgia |
9/1/88 |
yes; effective 7/1/96 |
6 through 17 yrs. in all seats; 18+ yrs. in front seat |
$15 |
no |
| Hawaii |
12/16/85 |
yes |
8 through 17 yrs. in all seats; 18+ yrs. in front seat |
$45 |
no |
| Idaho |
7/1/86 |
no |
7+ yrs. in all seats
(eff. 5/29/05) |
$25 |
no |
| Illinois |
1/1/88 |
yes; effective 7/3/03 |
16+ in front seat; 18 and younger in all seats if driver is younger than 18 yrs. (eff. 1/1/06) |
$25 |
no |
| Indiana |
7/1/87 |
yes; effective 7/1/98 |
16+ yrs. in front seat |
$25 |
no |
| Iowa |
7/1/86 |
yes |
11+ yrs. in front seat |
$25 |
yes |
| Kansas |
7/1/86 |
no |
14+ yrs. in front seat |
$10 |
no |
| Kentucky |
7/15/94 |
yes; effective 7/20/06 |
more than 40 in. in all seats |
$25 |
no |
| Louisiana |
7/1/86 |
yes; effective 9/1/95 |
13+ yrs. in front seat |
$25 |
no |
| Maine |
12/26/95 |
no |
18+ yrs. in all seats |
$50 |
no |
| State |
Initial
effective date |
Standard enforcement? |
Who is covered? In what seats? |
Maximum fine 1st offense |
Damages reduced for nonuse? |
| Maryland |
7/1/86 |
yes; effective 10/1/97 |
16+ yrs. in front seat |
$25 |
no |
| Massachusetts |
2/1/94 |
no |
12+ yrs. in all seats |
$25 |
no |
| Michigan |
7/1/85 |
yes; effective 4/1/2000 |
4+ yrs. in front seat; 4 through 15 yrs. in all seats |
$25 |
yes |
| Minnesota |
8/1/86 |
no |
all in front seat; 3 through 10 yrs. in all seats |
$25 |
no |
| Mississippi |
7/1/94 |
yes; effective 5/27/06
(until then, yes only for children < 8) |
4 through 7 yrs. in all seats/8+ yrs. in front seat |
$25 |
no |
| Missouri |
9/28/85 |
no (yes for children <16) |
16+ yrs. in front seat (eff. 8/10/06) |
$10 |
yes |
| Montana |
10/1/87 |
no |
6+ yrs. in all seats |
$20 |
no |
| Nebraska |
1/1/93 |
no |
18+ yrs. in front seat |
$25 |
yes |
| Nevada |
7/1/87 |
no |
6+ yrs. in all seats |
$25 |
no |
| New Hampshire |
n/a |
no law |
no law |
no law |
no |
| State |
Initial
effective date |
Standard enforcement? |
Who is covered? In what seats? |
Maximum fine 1st offense |
Damages reduced for nonuse? |
| New Jersey |
3/1/85 |
yes; effective 5/1/2000 |
7 yrs. and younger and more than 80 lbs.; 8 through 17 in all seats; 18+ in front seat |
$20 |
yes |
| New Mexico |
1/1/86 |
yes |
18+ yrs. in all seats |
$25 |
no |
| New York |
12/1/84 |
yes |
16+ yrs. in front seat |
$50 |
yes |
| North Carolina |
10/1/85 |
yes (secondary for rear seat occupants) |
16+ yrs. in all seats |
$25 |
no |
| North Dakota |
7/14/94 |
no |
18+ yrs. in front seat |
$20 |
no |
| Ohio |
5/6/86 |
no |
4+ yrs. in front seat |
$30 driver/$20 passenger |
yes |
| Oklahoma |
2/1/87 |
yes; effective 11/1/97 |
13+ yrs. in front seat |
$20 |
no |
| Oregon |
12/7/90 |
yes |
16+ yrs. in all seats |
$75 |
yes |
| Pennsylvania |
11/23/87 |
no |
8 through 17 yrs. in all seats; 18+ yrs. in front seat |
$10 |
no |
| Rhode Island |
6/18/91 |
no (yes for children <18)
(eff. 07/01/05) |
13+ yrs. in all seats |
$57 |
no |
| State |
Initial
effective date |
Standard enforcement? |
Who is covered? In what seats? |
Maximum fine 1st offense |
Damages reduced for nonuse? |
| South Carolina |
7/1/89 |
yes; 12/9/2005 |
6+ yrs. in front seat; 6+ yrs. in rear seat with shoulder belt |
$25 |
no |
| South Dakota |
1/1/95 |
no |
18+ yrs. in front seat |
$20 |
no |
| Tennessee |
4/21/86 |
yes; 7/1/2004 |
16+ yrs. in front seat |
$50 |
no |
| Texas |
9/1/85 |
yes |
4 and younger and 36 in. or more; 5 through 16 yrs. in all seats; 17+ yrs. in front seat (eff. 9/1/05) |
$200 |
no |
| Utah |
4/28/86 |
no (yes for children <19 yrs.) |
16+ yrs. in all seats |
$45 |
no |
| Vermont |
1/1/94 |
no |
16+ yrs. in all seats (eff. 1/1/04) |
$25
(eff. 1/1/04) |
no |
| Virginia |
1/1/88 |
no |
16+ yrs. in front seat |
$25 |
no |
| Washington |
6/11/86 |
yes; 7/1/2002 |
16+ yrs. in all seats |
$37 |
no |
| West Virginia |
9/1/93 |
no |
8+ yrs. in front seat; 8 through 17 yrs. in all seats |
$25 |
yes |
| Wisconsin |
12/1/87 |
no |
8+ yrs. in all seats |
$10 |
yes |
| Wyoming |
6/8/89 |
no |
9+ yrs. in all seats |
$25 driver/$10 passenger |
no |
Some info provided by Insurance Institute for Highway Safety |
