Ohio Seatbelt Requirements
- Wearing a seat belt is one of the easiest ways to improve driving safety.seat belt receptacle image by Albert Lozano from Fotolia.com
Wearing a seat belt is one of the simplest and most effective ways to protect yourself and your passengers whenever you drive. Each state sets its own laws concerning seat belt use. In Ohio, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles oversees seat belt laws to keep residents and visitors safe on public roads. - Ohio is among the many states that classify seat belt laws as a matter of secondary enforcement. This means that police officers may not stop a driver for the sole purpose of citing a seat belt infraction. Instead, the driver must first be caught performing a more severe act, and then can be cited for failure to wear a seat belt.
- Ohio's basic seat belt law states that all drivers and passengers must wear a seat belt while seated in the front seating area of a vehicle. In addition, children between ages 8 and 15 must wear a seat belt at all times, wherever they are seated, unless they qualify for a child restraint.
- Ohio law also specifies seat belt and child restraint requirements for children under age 8. Children under age 3 must be seated in an approved child seat, which must be affixed to the seat using the seat belts.
In addition, children ages 4 to 7 must be in a child seat if the child is shorter than 57 inches. Children taller than 57 inches but 15 years old or younger must wear a seat belt in any seating position. - Drivers in Ohio may be cited and fined for any failure by the driver or passengers to follow state seat belt requirements. As of 2010, for adults the maximum fine for a first offense is $30 for the driver and $20 for each passenger. The maximum fine for failure to follow the state's child restraint laws is $75 on the first offense, with a minimum of $25.
