Seat belt laws vary widely throughout the 50 states and the District of Columbia. While New Hampshire is alone in not requiring belt use in the front seat, it is one of 16 states that don’t require adult passengers to buckle up in the rear. New York state has required all people, including those in the rear seats, to be belted in since Nov. 1, 2020.
That makes New York’s seat belt laws as good as any. If every state strengthened their laws to equal New York’s, an estimated 277 lives would have been saved in 2023, according to a recent study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
Laws also vary according to the type of enforcement allowed. Primary enforcement laws allow police to stop a vehicle and issue a citation solely for failure to buckle up. Under secondary enforcement laws, police can only enforce seat belt requirements if they have pulled the driver over for another violation first. New York state allows for primary enforcement.
The driver and passengers 16 years of age and over can be fined for failing to use seat belts regardless of seating position. Drivers will receive three points against their license if anyone under 16 is not buckled up.
Although most people buckle up, failure to use a seat belt remains a huge factor in road deaths. Among people 13 and older killed in crashes while riding in passenger vehicles in 2023, only 45% were confirmed to be using belts.
While state laws aren’t the only factor that influences belt use, use rates are generally lower in states with weaker laws. Studies have consistently shown that requiring belts can sway many holdouts, and that primary enforcement laws are more effective than those that allow only secondary enforcement, says the IIHS.
Not surprisingly, the state with the most to gain from seat belt law changes is New Hampshire. If it enacted a belt law covering all seating positions and allowing primary enforcement, it could cut deaths of passenger-vehicle occupants 13 and older by 8.9%.
Strengthening laws is just one way to increase seat belt use. Vehicle technology can also help. IIHS research has shown that persistent visual and audible reminders that go well beyond the 4- to 8-second reminders required under federal regulations are highly effective at changing behavior.
IIHS began rating belt reminders in 2022, prompting manufacturers to make rapid improvements. About 71% of 2025 vehicles evaluated earned a good rating for their belt reminders compared with just 16% of 2022 models.
Despite these improvements, it will be many years before a majority of vehicles on the road have good belt reminders. In the meantime, stronger belt laws and better enforcement are tools that can yield rapid results.
In the end, it’s the person in the vehicle that has the final decision as to use the belt provided or ignore it. Make the right choice — use it.