GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has proposed a new rule that would require auto manufacturers to include rear-seat safety belt warning systems that would alert anyone in the car that they are not buckled up.
Their initiative is meant to increase the number of people wearing their seat belt regardless of where they are sitting in a vehicle.
Michigan state law requires that all drivers and front-seat passengers have their safety belts on. Children under 15 must be buckled up in any seat.
“We have approximately a 95% compliance rate,” Spl/Lt. Michelle Robinson with the Michigan State Police told FOX 17 on Wednesday. “So, we do a good job here in West Michigan as far as wearing our safety belts, but it still isn't the 100% that we hope for.”
Many of the new cars being manufactured in 2023 do not have a system that alerts occupants that they are not wearing their seat belts.
A proposed rule by the NHTSA, which is under the federal transportation department, would require manufacturers to include these systems in any new vehicles produced, should the rule take effect.
You can read the agency’s full proposal HERE.
They will be taking public comment for 60 days, after which point, they will convene to assess the feedback.
After a final analysis of the proposal in combination with public comments, they will decide whether or not to issue the proposal as, what they refer to as, a final rule.
If issued as a final rule, it would go into effect in the month of September, on whichever Sept. 1 that falls two years after they issue it.
The NHTSA estimates that about 475 people die every year while unbuckled in a rear seat, while about 7,036 are left injured.
The numbers are even worse for people in a front seat not wearing their safety belts.
About 6,733 are killed every year and 47,952 are injured.
In their proposal, the NHTSA says this rule is aimed at reducing those numbers.
They estimate the new rule would cost manufacturers an additional $19.59 per vehicle to produce.
