2019 US Virgin Islands Code
Title 20 - Highways and Motor Vehicles
Part II - Motor Vehicles
Chapter 41 - Equipment and Inspection of Vehicles
§ 466. Operation of motor vehicles with safety belts and child restraints
(a) For purposes of this section:
(1) “Booster Seat” means a seat that raises children up so that the vehicles seat belt system fits the child correctly in that the shoulder belt rests across the child's chest and the lap belt crosses the pelvic and hip area, never across the abdomen.
(2) “Center Rear” means the center of the back seats in a motor vehicle.
(3) “Child Restraint System” means any device that meets the standards of the United States Department of Transportation designed to restrain, seat or position children, which also includes a booster seat.
(4) “Motor Vehicle” includes all motor vehicles as defined by section 101 of this title, except for those motor vehicles manufactured before January 1, 1978, buses, authorized emergency vehicles and emergency trucks with a maximum gross weight of 18,000 pounds or more.
(5) “Outboard Rear” means left and right positions in all back seats of a motor vehicle.
(b) No person may operate a motor vehicle unless the operator and any passenger in the front seat of the vehicle are restrained by a lap and shoulder restraint where provided by the vehicle manufacturer which crosses over the hip and pelvis.
(c) No person may operate a motor vehicle while transporting a child under the age of 13, without providing for the protection of the child by properly securing the child in an appropriate child-restraint system or booster seat as follows:
(1) Passengers up to one year of age or at least 20 lbs. must be rear facing and placed in the outboard rear or center rear position of the motor vehicle;
(2) Passengers one to five years of age and at least 40 lbs. shall use a child restraint system that meets the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards set forth in 49 C.F.R. 571.243;
(3) Booster Seats must be used with children who have outgrown a forward-facing child car seat based on manufacturers' specifications, or for children between 40-80 lbs. less than 8 years of age and less than 4 ft. 9 in. tall;
(4) Children 13 and under shall always ride in the rear seat of vehicles equipped with air bags; and
(5) Except when safety seats must be worn, seat belts must be worn in both outboard, rear positions and center rear of vehicles.
(d) Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be fined not less than $75 and not more than $500. Any person convicted of a second or subsequent violation shall be punished by a fine of not less than $100 and not more than $400. Any person convicted of three or more violations within a three-year period shall be fined not less than $200 and not more than $500 and may have his driving privileges suspended for a period not to exceed one year.
(e) The provisions of subsection (a) do not apply to an operator or passenger with a physically disabling condition whose physical disability would prevent appropriate restraint by safety belt or safety seat, if the condition is certified by a physician who states the nature of the handicap, as well as the reason the restraint is inappropriate.
