Washington, D.C. — The United States Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has finalized a rule requiring seat belt use warnings for rear seats and enhanced warnings for driver and front passenger seats in an attempt at preventing passenger injury.
As part of its ruling, the NHTSA estimates that this new rule will prevent more than 500 injuries and save approximately 50 lives every year once fully implemented.
The final ruling specifically amends the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208, “Occupant Crash Protection,” which previously required a seat belt warning only for the driver’s seat.
The new requirements will apply to passenger cars, trucks, buses—though school buses are exempt—and multipurpose passenger vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating up to 10,000 pounds.
As a result, manufacturers must meet the enhanced seatbelt warning system requirements on new vehicles starting September 1, 2026. From here, the rear seat belt warning system will be required on new vehicles as of September 1, 2027.
NHTSA Chief Counsel Adam Raviv commented in an official statement that “wearing a seat belt is one of the easiest ways to prevent injury and death in a vehicle crash. While seat belts and their use have continued to improve 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.”
