RV seat belt laws: Everything you need to know
An RV has a sofa, a bed, kitchen counters, bathrooms, and bunks – all places you can sit on. However, there are certain safety rules you must follow while on the road, and you may not be aware of them. RV seat belt laws tend to differ from different states. If you want to know where and when you should put on a seat belt.
On the road, you have two types of laws:
- Primary enforcement
- Secondary enforcement
In the first type, a police officer can stop you for violating the seat belt law. In the second type, an officer can stop the RV for other reasons before charging you for not wearing a seat belt.
Some states require only the people sitting at the front of the RV to tighten their seat belts; others require all passengers to wear them.
If you are serious about safety and you should be, statistics support you as well – Hawaii recorded seat belt use of 95.3%, while Mississippi was at 60%. The overall nation’s average is 82%.
RV laws by states on seat belt
We have got different laws governing RV use in different states, but the states that have the law requiring only front sitting passengers to have their seat belts on are:
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- Connecticut
- Florida
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- New Jersey
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Pennsylvania
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
These states do not mandate that other passengers in the RV also wear a seat belt, but that is the safest travel option.
Now, all passengers in an RV must have a seat belt on, no matter where they are inside the RV in the states of:
- Alaska
- California
- Colorado
- Delaware
- Washington
- D.C.
- Georgia
- Idaho
- Iowa
- Kentucky
- Maine
- Massachusetts
- Montana
- New Hampshire
- New Mexico
- Oregon
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- Utah
- Vermont
- Washington
- Wyoming
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Requirements for Children
The age of passengers impacts whether they should wear seat belts while in the back of the RV and the states that demand this are:
- Arizona: 5 to 15
- Connecticut: 4 to 16
- Florida: 6 to 17
- Hawaii: 4 to 17
- Georgia: 6 to 17
- Illinois: 8 to 15
- Indiana: 4 to 11
- Kansas: 4 to 14
- Louisiana: 6 to 15
- Michigan: 4 to 15
- Minnesota: 4 to 10
- Mississippi: 4 to 10
- Missouri: 4 to 15
- Nebraska: 4 to 18
- New Jersey: 8 to 17
- New York: under 15
- North Carolina: under 15
- North Dakota: 7 to 17
- Oklahoma: 6 to 12
- Pennsylvania: 8 to 17
- South Dakota: under 18
- Tennessee: under 16
- Texas: under 17
- Virginia: under 16
- West Virginia: under 17
- Wisconsin: 4 to 15
The Class of RV
Irrespective of the class of RV you own, remember that manufacturers only must comply with seat belt standards for passengers on the front seats, not any rear passengers.
No matter what, the best and safest option is to wear your seat belt always.
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