Under M.G.L.c90s7AA:
All children under the age of 5 years old must be secured in a
federally approved infant, toddler, convertible or booster seat
appropriate for the child's age and weight.
Children 5 years of age or older and who weigh more than 40 pounds
must wear a seat belt that is properly adjusted. Children old enough
to use a vehicle's safety belt should not be allowed to place the
shoulder belt under their arm or behind their back. It is allowed
and recommended that children who weigh between 40 and 60 pounds use
a federally approved booster seat designed for this weight range.
The seat belt law applies to children riding in all types of
privately owned vehicles and all vehicles for hire, such as taxi
cabs. It is the responsibility of the child's parent or caregiver to
provide the car seat for use in taxis and in any and all vehicles
that transport their children), regardless of vehicle ownership.
Older children/teens and adults riding in a motor vehicle are now
required to wear a safety belt.
Under M.G.L. Section 13A.
No person shall operate a private
passenger motor vehicle or ride in a private passenger motor
vehicle, a vanpool vehicle or truck under eighteen thousand pounds
on any way unless such person is wearing a safety belt which is
properly adjusted and fastened; provided, however, that this
provision shall not apply to:
(a) any child less than twelve
years of age who is subject to the provisions of section seven AA;
(b) any person riding in a motor
vehicle manufactured before July first, nineteen hundred and
sixty-six;
(c) any person who is physically
unable to use safety belts; provided, however, that such condition
is duly certified by a physician who shall state the nature of the
handicap, as well as the reasons such restraint is inappropriate;
provided, further, that no such physician shall be subject to
liability in any civil action for the issuance or for the failure to
issue such certificate;
(d) any rural carrier of the United
States Postal Service operating a motor vehicle while in the
performance of his duties; provided, however, that such rural mail
carrier shall be subject to department regulations regarding the use
of safety belts or occupant crash protection devices;
(e) anyone involved in the
operation of taxis, liveries, tractors, trucks with gross weight of
eighteen thousand pounds or over, buses, and passengers of
authorized emergency vehicles.
Any person who operates a motor
vehicle without a safety belt, and any person sixteen years of age
or over who rides as a passenger in a motor vehicle without wearing
a safety belt in violation of this section, shall be subject to a
fine of twenty-five dollars. Any operator of a motor vehicle shall
be subject to an additional fine of twenty-five dollars for each
person under the age of sixteen and no younger than twelve who is a
passenger in said motor vehicle and not wearing a safety belt. The
provisions of this section shall be enforced by law enforcement
agencies only when an operator of a motor vehicle has been stopped
for a violation of the motor vehicle laws or some other offense.
Any person who receives a citation
for violating this section may contest such citation pursuant to
section three of chapter ninety C. A violation of this section shall
not be considered as a conviction of a moving violation of the motor
vehicle laws for the purpose of determining surcharges on motor
vehicle premiums pursuant to section one hundred and thirteen B of
chapter one hundred and seventy-five.
Exceptions Apply . .
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to adults for vehicles that were not manufactured with safety
belts (i.e. antique autos and vehicles that are not supplied with
safety belts)
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to persons unable physically to use safety belts.
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to persons riding as a passenger in a vehicle used to transport
persons for hire.
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to passengers in vehicles in which all seating positions equipped
with safety belts or child passenger restraints are occupied by
other passengers who are using the restraints.
For more information call the Governor's Highway Safety Bureau at
(617) 727-5073, or the Injury Prevention and Control Program, Ma.
Dept. Of Public Health Toll Free 1-800- 227SAFE
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