• The NHTSA adopts a rule requiring rear seat belt warnings.
Seat belts are proven life-savers. Over the decades, numerous awareness campaigns – and the threat of fines - have ensured that the majority of vehicle users now buckle up when aboard a vehicle.
Usage rates vary from place to place, but as a general rule, people buckle up. In Canada, discipline is a little higher than in the U.S., with an adoption rate of around 95 percent versus 90 percent.
Studies have shown that rear-seat passengers tend to buckle up as well, but in lower proportion (by around 10 percent, so at around 80 percent). An American study in 2022 revealed that 91.6 percent of front-seat occupants buckle, while 81.7 percent did so in the rear.
With this in mind, the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) finalized a rule this week requiring seatbelt warnings for the rear seats, as well as enhanced warnings for the driver and front passenger seats. The measure is aimed at increasing seatbelt use to prevent injuries and fatalities in the event of an accident.
La NHTSA estimates the new rule will prevent more than 500 injuries and save around 50 lives each year, once fully implemented.
In fact, the new rule modifies an existing U.S. standard that requires a seatbelt warning, but only for the driver. In Canada, the standard is for both front seats, as a general rule. Note that some manufacturers can go beyond the established standards and do more in terms of safety.
The new requirements will oblige manufacturers to include seatbelt warnings for the rear seats, and the rule will apply to cars, trucks, buses (except school buses) and passenger vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating of up to 10,000 lb.
The rear seat belt warning system must be installed on new vehicles as of September 1, 2027. Manufacturers are urged to comply with the rule before these deadlines.
“Wearing a seat belt is one of the easiest and most effective ways to prevent injury and death in a vehicle crash. While seat belt use has improved for decades, there’s still more we can do to make sure everyone buckles up.
These new requirements will help to increase seat belt use, especially for rear seat passengers, by enhancing reminders for vehicle occupants to buckle up.”
- Adam Raviv, NHTSA Chief Counsel
About half of passenger vehicle occupants killed in crashes in 2022 were unbelted, according to data from NHTSA's Fatality Analysis Reporting System.