Opinion ID: 1180974
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Legislation Requiring Seat Belt Installation and Use

Text: Most seat belt systems are not passive; the user must buckle up. As the years passed following the start of widespread seat belt installation, designers and engineers devised safety restraint systems that were entirely passive. [20] It is now possible to equip automobiles with automatic harness or air bag systems that do not need to be manually activated. [21] Because of the expense of these devices, manufacturers have strenuously objected to installing them as standard equipment. [22] Faced with overwhelming evidence that passive restraint systems would save many lives and prevent countless injuries, in 1984 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration adopted changes to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208 requiring the installation of passive restraints in all new cars starting with model year 1990, unless states containing at least two-thirds of the nation's population enact mandatory seat belt use statutes before the regulation's effective date. [23] The federal standard also requires that conforming state statutes contain provisions specifying that violation of the seat belt law may be used to mitigate damages in any post-accident civil litigation and that nonuse will result in a criminal penalty of at least twenty-five dollars. [24] Prior to the promulgation of the new federal rule, no state had enacted a law requiring motorists to use seat belts. [25] It now appears that over twenty states have enacted at least some form of such legislation. [26] It remains to be seen whether these new laws will meet the federal requirements and whether courts will use them to impose a statutory duty to wear seat belts for purposes of establishing fault and assessing damages in tort litigation. Arizona has not yet passed any general legislation mandating seat belt use. But see A.R.S. § 28-907 requiring seat belt use for children four years old or younger.