Safety belt law — Massachusetts Permit Test

Massachusetts law requires every person in a passenger vehicle to wear a safety belt or sit in a child passenger restraint.

It reaches everybody in the car, not only the front seats. An unbelted passenger in the back is a loose weight that hits whoever is in front of them.

Massachusetts law requires every person in a passenger motor vehicle (including vans and small trucks under 18,000 lbs.) to wear a safety belt or sit in a child passenger restraint.

Drivers of taxis, liveries, tractors, buses, and trucks weighing 18,000 pounds or more do not need to wear safety belts.

The exemption is about the job rather than the person. Some commercial drivers are covered by other rules that put the belt back on them.

The following people do not need to wear safety belts: • Drivers and passengers of vehicles made before July 1966 • Drivers of taxis, liveries, tractors, buses, and trucks with gross weights of 18,000 pounds or more (However, drivers of some commercial motor vehicles do need to wear safety belts.)

A driver can be fined $25 for each passenger aged 12, 13, 14, or 15 who is not wearing a safety belt.

For those four ages the fine lands on the driver rather than the passenger. Getting them belted is the driver's job.

A driver can also be fined $25 for each passenger age 12, 13, 14, or 15 who is not wearing a safety belt.

You can only be fined under the safety belt law when you have been stopped for a traffic violation.

An officer cannot pull you over for the belt alone. It is an add-on to a stop that was going to happen anyway.

You can only get a fine for the safety belt law when you are stopped for a traffic violation.

Drivers and passengers of vehicles made before July 1966 do not have to wear safety belts.

Cars from before that date were built without them. The exemption is about the vehicle, not about the driver.

The following people do not need to wear safety belts: • Drivers and passengers of vehicles made before July 1966

A person who physically cannot wear a safety belt because of a disability is exempt, and a physician must certify it.

The exemption exists, and it is not something a driver decides for themselves. A doctor has to put it in writing.

A person who physically cannot wear a safety belt because of a disability. A physician must certify that the person has this disability.

Worn correctly, safety belts lower the chance of death or serious injury in a crash by about 50 percent.

Halving the risk is the largest single thing a driver can do in the two seconds before a crash, and it takes no skill at all.

When worn correctly, safety belts lower the chance of death or serious injury in a crash by about 50 percent.

A lap belt should sit low, tight, and flat over the hips, and a shoulder belt across the shoulder and chest.

A belt riding up on the stomach loads the soft part of the body instead of the pelvis. Under the arm it does nothing at all.

A lap belt should fit low, tight, and flat over the hips.

Who must wear a safety belt in a Massachusetts passenger vehicle?

Every person in the vehicle. It reaches everybody in the car, not only the front seats. An unbelted passenger in the back is a loose weight that hits whoever is in front of them. Massachusetts Driver's Manual, p.35: “Massachusetts law requires every person in a passenger motor vehicle (including vans and small trucks under 18,000 lbs.) to wear a safety belt or sit in a child passenger restraint.”