The driver and passengers in a passenger car or light truck are required to use safety belts at all times, even if the car has airbags.  Each car is required to have a safety belt for every passenger. 

The police can and will pull you over for not wearing your safety belt.

If you are driving a pre-1968 car or pre-1972 light truck, you are exempt from California seat belt requirements.

As of January 1, 2002 the safety belt and restraint system law has been changed.

Every occupant of the car that is at least 6 years old and weighs 60 or more pounds must be wearing a seat belt.  Passengers under 6 or lighter than 60 pounds must be securely fastened in a child safety seat, as described later.(CVC 27360).

Negligence in securing your child passenger who is under 16 years of age is strictly enforced. Fines increase from $50 to $100 for the initial violation, and from $100 to $250 for the second or subsequent violation. The only case in which you may be excused from paying a fine is if you prove you are financially unable, but the judge is authorized to make you attend a community education program that includes, but is not limited to, demonstration of the proper installation and use of a child passenger restraint system.

However, you may be acquitted in the court if you permitted a child younger than 6 years of age, or weighing less then 60 pounds, to be transported with only a seatbelt, rather than a child passenger restraint system, in case of life-threatening emergency or when being transported in an authorized emergency vehicle, if the child is at least 1 year of age.

Safety belts are your life belts. They prevent you from being thrown from your car, from hitting the dashboard, or being jostled out of position and losing control of your car. 

Seat belts:

	Keep you inside your car.  Your chances of being killed in an accident are five times greater if you are thrown from your car.
	Keep you from smashing into the dashboard or windshield.
	Keep you well positioned behind the steering wheel and in the best position to maintain control of your car.

Studies have shown that up to 85% fewer fatalities occur when accident victims had both safety shoulder harnesses and seat belts fastened.

Wearing your safety belt is not only a service to you, but your duty to your passengers.  If you are not wearing a seat belt, a sudden stop, swerve, or even a minor crash could throw you into other passengers, hurting both you and them, and destroying your ability to control your car effectively.

Whatever your reasons for not wearing your safety belt, they are certainly irrational and definitely violate the law.

Short Trips

Some drivers rationalize that seat belts are unnecessary during short trips, or trips at slow speeds. 

Over 80% of all accidents occur at speed less than 40 mph. Fatalities involving non-belted occupants of cars have been recorded at speeds as low as 11 mph, which basically the speed you drive in a parking lot.

Three out of four accidents that cause death occur within 25 miles of the home. Belt up if you are going to the shopping center or the movies, just as you would for a longer trip.

Fire and Water

Even more irrationally, some drivers don't wear their belts for fear that if their car were to somehow become submerged in water or were to catch fire in an accident, they might be trapped in the vehicle.

Fewer than one-half of one percent of all injuries from collisions involve either fire or submersion.  Even if your vehicle were to succumb to fire or submersion, the seat belt would still help to save your life and preserve your ability to function in the accident that preceded it.

It takes less than a second to take off your safety belt.   With your safety belt fastened, you are more likely to emerge from any accident unhurt, alert, and capable of escaping quickly.

In almost any collision you are better off being held inside by your safety belt.  Of all the things you can do to lessen the severity of an accident, wearing a safety belt is the single most important – and it is the law.

If you are pregnant, take special care when you put on your seat belt.  When driving, wear your lap belt as low as possible under your abdomen and the shoulder strap between the breasts and to the side of the abdominal bulge.

If a child is under 6 years old or weighs less than 60 pounds, that child must be secured in an approved child safety seat by law (CVC 27360).

Changes to CVC 27360 to be enforced from January 1, 2005 state:

A child who is required to be secured in a child safety seat (Under 6 years or under 60 pounds), be secured in the rear seat of the vehicle. A child is allowed to be secured in the front seat of the vehicle if:

	There is no rear seat
	.The rear seats are side facing jump seats
	The rear seats are rear-facing seats
	The restraint system cannot be installed properly in the rear seat
	All rear seats are occupied by children under the age of 12 years
	Medical reasons necessitate that the child not ride in the rear

A child may not ride in the front seat of a motor vehicle with an active passenger air bag if they are under one year of age, weigh less than 20 pounds, or riding in a rear-facing child passenger restraint system.

When you have a child in the car:

	The back seat is the safest place in the car for all children younger than twelve years of age, especially infants.
	Infants up to 20 lbs. and age one or younger should always ride in a "rear facing" safety seat that is solidly secured to the back seat.
	Make sure the vehicle’s seat belt is put through the correct slot in the child safety seat.  Correctly installing a child safety seat can be tricky.  Get it right: your child's life is at stake.

If your car has an airbag on the passenger side of the car, either in the door or the dash:

	Never place a child under twelve in the front seat, it is extremely dangerous.  Airbags are designed for passengers older than twelve.
	Never place a child safety seat in the front seat.  The force of the airbag will critically harm the child.

Remember, car accidents are the number one preventable cause of death among children – obey the law for their safety.

Rental agencies must display a notice on the wall stating that: "California law requires all children under the age of 6, regardless of weight, or weighing less than 60 pounds, regardless of age, to be transported in a child restraint system (child seat)."

It is an infraction, punishable by a fine of $100, for the parent, legal guardian, or other person responsible for a child who is 6 years of age or younger to leave that child inside a motor vehicle, without being subject to the supervision of a person who is 12 years of age or older.(Kaitlyn's Law. CVC 15600)