Seat Belts
G.L. c. 90, § 13A — a $25 fine, enforced only after a stop for something else
Only after a stop for something else. In Massachusetts, the seat belt law is enforced only when a driver has been stopped for a motor vehicle violation or some other offense.
A driver, and every passenger sixteen years of age or over, in a private passenger vehicle, vanpool vehicle or truck under eighteen thousand pounds wears a properly adjusted and fastened belt. The fine is twenty-five dollars, and the driver pays another twenty-five for each unbelted passenger under sixteen and no younger than twelve.
A violation is not a moving violation for insurance surcharges. The exemptions include a person physically unable to wear a belt with a physician's certificate, vehicles manufactured before July first, nineteen hundred and sixty-six, rural mail carriers on duty, and taxis, liveries and buses.
Sources for this section (1)
- G.L. c. 90, § 13A — Seat belt use required
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Massachusetts attorney.