Seat Belt FAQs

1. What is the law in New Mexico regarding seat belt use?

   New Mexico Safety Belt Use Act: 66-7-372 (Effective July 15, 2001) Each occupant of a motor vehicle, having a gross vehicle weight of ten thousand pounds or less and manufactured with safety belts, shall have a safety belt properly fastened about his/her body at all times when the vehicle is in motion on any street or highway. The fine for violating the New Mexico Safety Belt Use Act is $25.00, two points on the offender's driver's license, and additional fees, depending on jurisdiction.
   
   For more information, please visit the following web site:
   http://www.conwaygreene.com/nmsu/lpext.dll?f=templates&fn=main-hit-h.htm&2.0



2. Why don't school buses have seat belts?

   School bus transportation is one of the safest forms of transportation in the United States. School bus crash data show that a Federal requirement for belts on buses would provide little, if any, added protection in a crash. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) have come to the same conclusion. NTSB concluded in a 1987 study of school bus crashes that most fatalities and injuries were due to occupant seating positions being in direct line with the crash forces. NTSB stated that seat belts would not have prevented most of the serious injuries and fatalities occurring in school bus crashes.
   
   For more information, please visit the following web site:
   www.nhtsa.dot.gov/people/injury/buses/pub/seatbelt.hmp.html.