                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

SAFETY LAP BELTS OR A COMBINATION OF LAP BELTS AND SHOULDER HARNESSES TO BE
INSTALLED IN CERTAIN MOTOR VEHICLES (§ 46.2-1092)

No passenger car or autocycle registered in the Commonwealth and manufactured
for the year 1963 or for subsequent years shall be operated on the highways in
the Commonwealth unless the front seats thereof are equipped with adult safety
lap belts or a combination of lap belts and shoulder harnesses of types approved
by the Superintendent.
		Failure to use the safety lap belts or a combination of lap belts and shoulder
harnesses after installation shall not be deemed to be negligence. Nor shall
evidence of such nonuse of such devices be considered in mitigation of damages
of whatever nature.
		No motor vehicle registered in the Commonwealth and manufactured after January
1, 1968, shall be issued a safety inspection approval sticker if any lap belt,
combination of lap belt and shoulder harness, or passive belt systems required
to be installed at the time of manufacture by the federal Department of
Transportation have been either removed from the motor vehicle or rendered
inoperable.
		No autocycle registered in the Commonwealth shall be issued a safety
inspection sticker if any lap belt, combination of lap belt and shoulder
harness, or passive belt systems required to be installed under this section
have been either removed from the autocycle or rendered inoperable.
		No passenger car, except convertibles, registered in the Commonwealth and
manufactured on or after September 1, 1990, shall be operated on the highways in
the Commonwealth unless the forward-facing rear outboard seats thereof are
equipped with rear seat lap/shoulder belts of types required to be installed at
the time of manufacture by the federal Department of Transportation.
		No passenger car, including convertibles, registered in the Commonwealth and
manufactured on or after September 1, 1991, shall be operated on the highways in
the Commonwealth unless the forward-facing rear outboard seats thereof are
equipped with rear seat lap/shoulder belts of types required to be installed at
the time of manufacture by the federal Department of Transportation.
		No truck, multi-purpose vehicle, or bus, except school buses and motor homes,
with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less, registered in the
Commonwealth and manufactured on or after September 1, 1991, shall be operated
on the highways in the Commonwealth unless the forward-facing rear outboard
seats thereof are equipped with rear seat lap/shoulder belts of types required
to be installed at the time of manufacture by the federal Department of
Transportation.
		Passenger cars, trucks, multipurpose vehicles, and buses, except school buses
and motor homes, registered in the Commonwealth and manufactured on or after
September 1, 1992, shall not be operated on the highways of the Commonwealth
unless equipped with rear seat lap/shoulder belts of types required to be
installed at the time of manufacture by the federal Department of Transportation
for each forward-facing rear outboard seating position on a readily removable
seat.
		For the purposes of this section, forward-facing rear outboard seats are
defined as those designated seating positions for passengers in outside front
facing seats behind the driver and front passenger seats, except any designated
seating position adjacent to a walkway that is located between the seat and the
near side of the vehicle and is designed to allow access to a more rearward
seating position.
		The Superintendent of State Police shall include in the Official Motor Vehicle
Inspection Regulations a section which identifies each classification of motor
vehicle required to be equipped with any of the devices described in the
foregoing provisions of this section.
		Such regulations shall also include a listing of the exact devices which are
required to be installed in each motor vehicle classification and the model year
of each motor vehicle classification on which the standards of the federal
Department of Transportation first became applicable.

HISTORY: 1962, c. 357, § 46.1-309.1; 1964, c. 334; 1966, c. 37; 1968, c. 171;
1970, c. 19; 1980, c. 486; 1982, c. 434; 1989, c. 727; 1992, c. 553; 2014, cc.
53, 256.