About driver responsibility
Safety belts and child restraints
Safety belts and child restraints protect people by holding them in their seats when there is a crash or when the vehicle stops suddenly. If you don’t wear a safety belt and you’re involved in a crash, you could be thrown out of your vehicle.
Not all heavy vehicles are required to be fitted with safety belts. However, if your vehicle does have safety belts, you must use them.
Always remember to fasten your safety belt before you drive off.
See About your vehicle for more information about the legal requirements for safety belts in your vehicle.
Responsibility
As the driver you are responsible for making sure passengers under the age of 15 are using an approved child restraint or safety belt.
- Children under five must be in an approved child restraint.
- Children aged between five and seven must use an approved child restraint or wear a safety belt.
- Children aged between eight and 14 must wear a safety belt.
The safety belt must be worn correctly and kept securely fastened while the vehicle is in motion on the road.
Passengers 15 years and over are responsible for making sure that they wear their own safety belts correctly and that they keep them fastened while the vehicle is in motion.
Bus drivers in vehicles with passenger safety belts are not responsible for ensuring passengers wear them except passengers under the age of 15 sitting in a front seat alongside the driver.
Special exemptions
You don’t have to wear a safety belt if you:
- hold a doctor’s certificate that says you don’t have to wear a safety belt for medical reasons
- are driving and you’re unable to reach the controls (for example, brake, signals, dip switch) with a safety belt on
- are a taxi driver plying for hire (your passengers, however, must wear safety belts)
- are a driver or passenger who is getting in and out of the vehicle often to read meters, deliver goods, etc. In these situations you must not travel faster than 50km/h
- are reversing and it is difficult to see while wearing a safety belt.
Child restraints
Under fives
Children under five years old must be properly restrained in an approved child restraint.
The only exception to this rule is when the children are travelling in a taxi that doesn’t have an approved child restraint. In this case, the children must sit in the back seat.
Five to seven year olds
Children aged between five and seven years old must use a child restraint if available.
If no child restraint is available, they must use a safety belt.
If no safety belt is available, they must sit in the back seat.
For more information about child restraints, see factsheet 7 Child restraints.
Last updated: 30 September 2010