Who is penalized if a passenger does not fasten their seat belt?
If the driver of a car does not wear his seat belt, he will be assessed a class 4 fine. This means a loss of 3 points on his driver’s license and a flat fine of 135 euros. But what if a passenger isn’t buckled up? Is the driver responsible for his passengers? Do some people have the right not to commit? Ouest France answers you.
Liability depends on the age of the passenger
Before starting the journey, the driver must check whether each passenger is buckled. However, he is only liable if the passenger is a minor. If a passenger under the age of 18 is not wearing a seat belt, “The driver is responsible and risks paying a lump sum fine of 135 euros”, recalls the traffic safety site. This does not apply to bus drivers who are not responsible if a passenger, whether underage or not, is not wearing a seat belt.
If the passenger is an adult, they will be fined. He does not face a point deduction, but only a lump sum fine of 135 euros.
Also read: Is it legal to flash your headlights to signal the presence of law enforcement?
Who is exempt from wearing seat belts?
Although highly recommended, some people are not required to wear their seat belts. This is the case, for example, with taxi drivers on duty. This singularity is due to a single event: “One day a driver was almost strangled by his customer”Marie-Xavière Wauquiez reports in her book “Taxis, the future in 3D”, which was self-published in April 2014.
Other occupational groups are also exempt from the obligation to wear seat belts: drivers or passengers “a priority vehicle of general interest or an ambulance in case of emergency; a public vehicle that must stop frequently in built-up areas; of a vehicle making door-to-door deliveries in urban areas”notes the traffic safety site.
This exception can also affect people whose physique does not allow them to wear a belt comfortably, or even people who have medical contraindications. In this case, “a medical certificate stating the period of validity issued by a doctor approved by the prefecture” is necessary.
As a reminder, pregnant women are not exempt from the obligation to wear seat belts. Contrary to popular belief, the belt is not dangerous for women expecting a child. An April 2008 study published in the Journal American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology shows that if “In an accident at 30 km/h, pregnant women without a seat belt have a 70 percent risk of losing the baby. For tied women, on the other hand, the risk is only 12%..
This is also on the Road Safety website “To be effective, the seat belt must be worn correctly: the lower belt must always lie below the iliac crest, i.e. as close as possible to the pubic bone and not to the abdomen”.
