Sec. 14-100a. Seat safety belts. Child restraint systems. Wheelchair transportation devices.
Sec. 14-100a. Seat safety belts. Child restraint systems. Wheelchair transportation devices. (a) No new passenger motor vehicle may be sold or registered in this
state unless equipped with at least two sets of seat safety belts for the front and rear
seats of the motor vehicle, which belts comply with the requirements of subsection (b)
of this section. The anchorage unit at the attachment point shall be of such construction,
design and strength as to support a loop load strength of not less than four thousand
pounds for each belt.
(b) No seat safety belt may be sold for use in connection with the operation of a
motor vehicle on any highway of this state unless it is so constructed and installed as
to have a loop strength through the complete attachment of not less than four thousand
pounds, and the buckle or closing device shall be of such construction and design that
after it has received the aforesaid loop belt load it can be released with one hand with
a pull of less than forty-five pounds.
(c) (1) The operator of and any front seat passenger in a motor vehicle with a gross
vehicle weight rating not exceeding ten thousand pounds or fire fighting apparatus originally equipped with seat safety belts complying with the provisions of the Code of
Federal Regulations, Title 49, Section 571.209, as amended from time to time, shall
wear such seat safety belt while the vehicle is being operated on any highway, except
as follows:
(A) A child six years of age and under shall be restrained as provided in subsection
(d) of this section;
(B) The operator of such vehicle shall secure or cause to be secured in a seat safety
belt any passenger seven years of age or older and under sixteen years of age; and
(C) If the operator of such vehicle is under eighteen years of age, such operator and
each passenger in such vehicle shall wear such seat safety belt while the vehicle is being
operated on any highway.
(2) The provisions of subdivision (1) of this subsection shall not apply to (A) any
person whose physical disability or impairment would prevent restraint in such safety
belt, provided such person obtains a written statement from a licensed physician containing reasons for such person's inability to wear such safety belt and including information concerning the nature and extent of such condition. Such person shall carry the
statement on his or her person or in the motor vehicle at all times when it is being
operated, or (B) an authorized emergency vehicle, other than fire fighting apparatus,
responding to an emergency call or a motor vehicle operated by a rural letter carrier of
the United States postal service while performing his or her official duties or by a person
engaged in the delivery of newspapers.
(3) Failure to wear a seat safety belt shall not be considered as contributory negligence nor shall such failure be admissible evidence in any civil action.
(4) Any operator of a motor vehicle, who is eighteen years of age or older, and any
passenger in such motor vehicle, who violates any provision of this subsection shall
have committed an infraction and shall be fined fifteen dollars. Any operator of a motor
vehicle who is under eighteen years of age and any passenger in such motor vehicle
who violates any provision of this subsection shall have committed an infraction and
shall be fined seventy-five dollars. Points may not be assessed against the operator's
license of any person convicted of such violation.
(d) (1) Any person who transports a child six years of age and under or weighing
less than sixty pounds, in a motor vehicle on the highways of this state shall provide
and require the child to use a child restraint system approved pursuant to regulations
adopted by the Department of Motor Vehicles in accordance with the provisions of
chapter 54. Any person who transports a child seven years of age or older and weighing
sixty or more pounds, in a motor vehicle on the highways of this state shall either provide
and require the child to use an approved child restraint system or require the child to
use a seat safety belt. As used in this subsection, "motor vehicle" does not mean a bus
having a tonnage rating of one ton or more. Failure to use a child restraint system shall not
be considered as contributory negligence nor shall such failure be admissible evidence in
any civil action.
(2) Any person who transports a child under one year of age or weighing less than
twenty pounds in a motor vehicle on the highways of this state shall provide and require
the child to ride rear-facing in a child restraint system approved pursuant to regulations
that the Department of Motor Vehicles shall adopt in accordance with the provisions
of chapter 54.
(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (1) of this subsection, any person
who transports a child four years of age or older in a student transportation vehicle, as
defined in section 14-212, on the highways of this state shall either provide and require
the child to use an approved child restraint system or require the child to use a seat safety
belt. Any person who transports a child under four years of age weighing less than forty
pounds in a student transportation vehicle on the highways of this state shall provide
and require the child to use a child restraint system approved pursuant to regulations
adopted by the Department of Motor Vehicles in accordance with the provisions of
chapter 54.
(4) No person shall restrain a child in a booster seat unless the motor vehicle is
equipped with a safety seat belt that includes a shoulder belt and otherwise meets the
requirement of subsection (b) of this section.
(5) Any person who violates the provisions of subdivision (1), (2), (3) or (4) of
this subsection shall, for a first violation, have committed an infraction; for a second
violation, be fined not more than one hundred ninety-nine dollars; and, for a third or
subsequent violation, be guilty of a class A misdemeanor. The commissioner shall require any person who has committed a first or second violation of the provisions of this
subsection to attend a child car seat safety course offered or approved by the Department
of Motor Vehicles. The commissioner may, after notice and an opportunity for a hearing,
suspend for a period of not more than two months the motor vehicle operator's license
of any person who fails to attend or successfully complete the course.
(e) (1) Any person who transports an individual who remains in a wheelchair while
being transferred into and out of a vehicle, in any motor vehicle on the highways of this
state, shall provide and require the use of a device designed to secure individuals in
wheelchairs while transferring such individuals from the ground to the vehicle and from
the time the motor vehicle is brought to a stop until such individuals are transferred
from the vehicle to the ground. Such device shall be located in the motor vehicle at all
times. The Commissioner of Motor Vehicles may, after consultation with the Departments of Transportation and Public Health, establish regulations to implement the provisions of this section and sections 13b-105 and 14-102a, subsection (d) of section 14-103, subsection (a) of section 14-275 and subsection (a) of section 19a-180.
(2) The following motor vehicles registered in this state for the first time on or
after October 1, 2007, that transport individuals who remain in wheelchairs while being
transported, shall, in addition to the requirements of subdivision (1) of this subsection,
install or provide and require the use of a device that secures the wheelchair to the motor
vehicle's mechanical lift or otherwise prevents or seeks to prevent an individual in a
wheelchair from falling from such mechanical lift or motor vehicle: (A) Motor vehicles
in livery service, as defined in section 13b-101, (B) service buses, as defined in section
14-1, (C) invalid coaches, as defined in subdivision (11) of section 19a-175, (D) vanpool
vehicles, as defined in section 14-1, (E) school buses, as defined in section 14-1, (F)
motor buses, as defined in section 14-1, (G) student transportation vehicles, as defined
in section 14-212, and (H) camp vehicles, as defined in section 14-1. The provisions of
this subsection shall also apply to all motor vehicles used by municipal, volunteer and
commercial ambulance services, rescue services and management services, as defined
in subdivision (19) of section 19a-175.
(3) Violation of any provision of this subsection is an infraction.
(f) The commissioner shall administer the provisions of this section.
(1961, P.A. 532; 1963, P.A. 405; P.A. 82-292; P.A. 84-429, S. 35; P.A. 85-429, S. 1, 8; P.A. 91-192, S. 2; P.A. 93-10;
P.A. 94-52; P.A. 96-180, S. 149, 166; 96-257, S. 1; P.A. 02-70, S. 78; P.A. 05-58, S. 1; P.A. 07-134, S. 1; P.A. 08-32, S.
5; 08-150, S. 37.)
History: 1963 act made equipping of new cars with seat belts mandatory, 1961 act having made anchorage units only
mandatory; P.A. 82-292 inserted new Subsec. (c) requiring the use of child restraint systems, relettering former Subsec.
(c) accordingly; P.A. 84-429 rephrased provisions and made other technical changes; P.A. 85-429 amended Subsec. (a)
to require that vehicles be equipped with safety belts for rear seats and inserted new Subsec. (c) re required use of seat
belts, exemptions and penalties related to such use, relettering prior Subsecs. (c) and (d) accordingly; P.A. 91-192 amended
Subsec. (c)(1) and (3) to require use of seat belts in fire fighting apparatus and (c)(5) to delete obsolete provision re issuance
of verbal warnings by law enforcement officers for violations; P.A. 93-10 amended Subsec. (c)(1) to eliminate exemption
from requirement to use seat belts for vehicles equipped with air bags; P.A. 94-52 amended Subsec. (c) by deleting "front
seat" in the last sentence of Subdiv. (1), making it applicable to any passenger 4 years of age or older and under 16, not
only a "front seat" passenger, and amended Subsec. (d) by making its first sentence applicable to children under 4 years
of age and weighing less than 40 pounds, deleting language which provided that: "For any child between the ages of one
year and four years, a seat safety belt in the rear seat of the motor vehicle which complies with the provisions of subsection
(b) of this section may be used in lieu of a child restraint system." and providing instead that: "Any person who transports
a child under the age of four years, weighing forty or more pounds, in a motor vehicle on the highways of this state shall
either provide and require the child to use an approved child restraint system or require the child to use a seat safety belt"
and eliminating language which said that "motor vehicle" does not mean "a recreational vehicle of the truck or van type
or a truck"; P.A. 96-180 amended of Subsec. (c)(1) to substitute Subsec. "(e)" for "(g)" of Sec. 38a-363, effective June 3,
1996; P.A. 96-257 amended Subsec. (d) to eliminate provision requiring court waiver of fine upon proof that person
installed child restraint system prior to court appearance date, to provide graduated penalties for violation of subsection
and to require persons who have committed a first or second violation to attend a child car seat safety course; P.A. 02-70
amended Subsec. (c) to replace references to "private passenger" type of motor vehicle, "as defined in subsection (e) of
section 38a-363" and "vanpool vehicle", with reference to motor vehicle "with a gross vehicle weight rating not exceeding
ten thousand pounds", and to require seat belt use in fire fighting apparatus "originally" equipped with such belts in Subdiv.
(1), combined existing Subdiv. (3) with Subdiv. (2) and made technical changes therein and redesignated existing Subdivs.
(4) and (5) as Subdivs. (3) and (4); P.A. 05-58 amended Subsec. (c)(1) by substituting "six years of age and under" for
"under the age of four years" and changing "four" to "seven" years of age or older, and amended Subsec. (d) by designating
existing provisions as Subdivs. (1) and (5) and, in Subdiv. (1), substituting "six years of age and under or" for "under the
age of four years" and changing 40 to 60 pounds, adding Subdiv. (2) re child restraint system for transport of child under
1 year of age or weighing less than 20 pounds, adding Subdiv. (3) re child restraint systems in a student transportation
vehicle, adding Subdiv. (4) re restraint of child in booster seat and, in Subdiv. (5), adding "subdivision (1), (2), (3) or (4)
of"; P.A. 07-134 added new Subsec. (e) re wheelchair transportation safety devices for individuals who remain in wheelchairs while being transferred into and out of a vehicle, and for motor vehicles in livery service, service buses, invalid
coaches, vanpool vehicles, school buses, motor buses, student transportation vehicles and camp vehicles registered on or
after October 1, 2007, that transport individuals who remain in wheelchairs while being transported, and redesignated
existing Subsec. (e) as Subsec. (f); P.A. 08-32 amended Subsec. (c) to make technical changes and, in Subdiv. (1), to add
requirement that if operator of vehicle is under eighteen, operator and each passenger shall wear seat belt while vehicle is
being operated on any highway and, in Subdiv. (4), to provide that any operator of vehicle who is eighteen or older and
any passenger who violates any provision of Subsec. (c) shall have committed an infraction and be fined $15 and that any
operator under eighteen and any passenger who violates any provision of Subsec. (c) shall have committed an infraction
and be fined $75, effective August 1, 2008; P.A. 08-150 amended Subsec. (e)(2) to make technical changes.
See Sec. 54-33m re failure to wear seat belt not constituting probable cause for vehicle search.
Police officer who observed defendant operating motor vehicle without wearing a shoulder-harness-type seat belt had
reasonable articulable suspicion of a violation of statute to justify initial stop. 96 CA 515.
Special defense of defendant that plaintiff's failure to use seat belts supplied pursuant to this section should be allowed
as evidence may show nonuse as the proximate cause barring recovery or could affect amount of damages recoverable.
27 CS 498.
Subsec. (a):
Cited. 239 C. 1.
Subsec. (c):
Subdiv. (4) cited. 16 CA 497. Subdiv. (4) held to be constitutional with respect to due process, access to court's equal
protection and right to a jury trial. 38 CA 685.
Cited. 43 CS 239.
Subsec. (d):
Cited. 29 CA 689.