The Vermont Statutes Online
The Vermont Statutes Online does not include the actions of the 2024 session of the General Assembly. We expect them to be updated by November 1st.
NOTE: The Vermont Statutes Online is an unofficial copy of the Vermont Statutes Annotated that is provided as a convenience.
Title 23 : Motor Vehicles
Chapter 013 : Operation of Vehicles
Subchapter 014 : Equipment
(Cite as: 23 V.S.A. § 1258)-
§ 1258. Child restraint systems; persons under age 18
(a) No person shall operate a motor vehicle, other than a type I school bus, in this State upon a public highway unless every occupant under age 18 is properly restrained in a federally approved child passenger restraining system as defined in 49 C.F.R. § 571.213, as may be amended, or a federally approved safety belt, as follows:
(1) all children under the age of one and all children weighing less than 20 pounds, regardless of age, shall be restrained in a rear-facing position, properly secured in a federally approved child passenger restraining system, which shall not be installed in front of an active air bag;
(2) a child weighing more than 20 pounds, and who is one year of age or older and under the age of eight years, shall be restrained in a child passenger restraining system; and
(3) a child eight through 17 years of age shall be restrained in a safety belt system or a child passenger restraining system.
(b) A person shall not be adjudicated in violation of this section if:
(1) the motor vehicle is regularly used to transport passengers for hire, except a motor vehicle owned or operated by a child care facility;
(2) the motor vehicle was manufactured without safety belts; or
(3) the person has been ordered by an enforcement officer, a firefighter, or an authorized civil authority to evacuate persons from a stricken area.
(c) The penalty for violation of this section shall be as follows:
(1) $25.00 for a first violation;
(2) $50.00 for a second violation;
(3) $100.00 for third and subsequent violations. (Added 1983, No. 96 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; amended 1987, No. 49; 1989, No. 167 (Adj. Sess.); 1993, No. 20, § 1; 1993, No. 119 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 2003, No. 28, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 2004; 2005, No. 174 (Adj. Sess.), § 54; 2005, No. 175 (Adj. Sess.), § 61; 2009, No. 150 (Adj. Sess.), § 6, eff. June 1, 2010; 2015, No. 47, § 28.)
