The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, has announced the finalization of a new rule that will require automakers to equip new vehicles with enhanced seat belt reminder systems for both the front and rear seats. Once fully implemented, the rule is expected to save 50 lives annually, while also preventing more than 500 injuries every year, all through increased seat belt usage. According to the NHTSA, seat belt usage for rear-seated passengers is consistently below that of front-seated passengers, with data from 2022 indicating that rear-seated passengers use a seatbelt 81.7 percent of the time, while front-seated passenger use a seat belt 91.6 percent of the time. Roughly half of all passenger vehicle fatalities in 2022 involved unbelted occupants.
Previously, seat belt warning systems were only required for the driver’s seat. The updated rule, which amends Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208, now requires visual and audible alerts for rear seat passengers, plus improved systems for drivers and front passengers.
The new rule will apply to passenger cars, trucks, buses (except school buses), and multipurpose vehicles weighing up to 10,000 pounds. Automakers must comply with the new enhanced front seat belt warning system rules by September 1st, 2026, while rear seat warnings will become mandatory on September 1st, 2027.
“Wearing a seat belt is one of the easiest and most effective ways to prevent injury and death in a vehicle crash,” said NHTSA Chief Counsel Adam Raviv. “While seat belt use has improved for decades, there’s still more we can do to make sure everyone buckles up. These new requirements will help to increase seat belt use, especially for rear seat passengers, by enhancing reminders for vehicle occupants to buckle up.”
As part of a broader initiative to increase on-road safety, the NHTSA is also requiring automatic emergency braking systems for cars and light trucks by 2029. In addition, the agency has updated its 5-Star Safety Ratings program to include pedestrian protection and advanced driver assistance technologies.
Comments
One thing I love about my Cadillac over my Toyota.
My Toyota will nag and nag and nag you by dinging for 10 seconds and then going crazy with a faster ding for a solid 20 seconds. It will do it again after a minute.
My Cadillac will gently remind you once with the classic GM slot machine gong and after that, you are on your own. Its like “well f@#$ you then I am not your mother. Do what you want. I am only making a suggestion.”
More BS regulations because people avoid personal responsibility.
Im curious as to how this is implemented. If its nothing but a weight sensor in the seat, its going to be a pain. Putting something on the rear seat? Its going to nag you even though nobody is there
Another useless regulation created by a bloated Federal bureaucracy full of excess employees who need to come up with more and more regulations just to justify their existence. Let’s hope that DOGE will thin out some of these Federal agencies and put an end to the endless stream of silly, overbearing Federal regulations.
What is the added cost per vehicle for the sensors and switches wiring and controller?
if there is weight in the seats the belts should be buckled.