Arkansas Seatbelt Laws: Requirements, Exemptions & Fines

Arkansas seatbelt laws require every driver and front-seat passenger to buckle up in any motor vehicle on a public street or highway, with a state fine of up to $25 and a combined state-and-local fine capped at $45.¹² Children under six who weigh less than sixty pounds must ride in a federally approved child safety seat, and the penalty for failing to properly restrain a child runs from $25 to $100.³⁴ Adult rear-seat passengers are not covered.

Who Has to Wear a Seatbelt

The law applies to two people in the car: the driver and the front-seat passenger.¹ The belt must be properly adjusted, fastened, and secured to the vehicle. The length of the trip and the type of road do not matter.

Adults in the back seat are not required to buckle up under Arkansas law. The statute addresses only the driver and front-seat passenger, and nothing in the code extends the requirement to rear-seat occupants over age fifteen. An officer cannot cite an adult riding unbelted in the back.

Arkansas is a primary enforcement state. An officer can pull you over for an observed seatbelt violation alone, without needing to see any other traffic offense first. That has been the rule since June 30, 2009.⁵

Car Seat and Booster Rules for Kids

Child restraint rules are stricter and broader than the adult rule. A driver carrying any child under fifteen in a car, van, or pickup truck is responsible for making sure the child is properly secured, no matter where in the vehicle the child is riding.³

The threshold is age and weight together:

Children under six years old and under sixty pounds must ride in a child passenger safety seat properly secured to the vehicle. Both conditions have to apply, so a five-year-old who weighs sixty-five pounds can use a standard seatbelt.³
Once a child reaches six years old or sixty pounds, a regular seatbelt satisfies the law. Either threshold is enough to move out of a dedicated car seat.
From age six through fourteen, a seatbelt is required and the driver carries the legal responsibility for making sure it is fastened.

Vehicles operated for hire are excluded from the child restraint statute, so taxis and similar for-hire vehicles sit outside these rules.³

When to Replace a Car Seat After a Crash

NHTSA treats a crash as minor, meaning the seat can keep being used, only when every one of the following is true: the vehicle could be driven away from the scene, the door nearest the car seat was undamaged, no one in the vehicle was injured, no airbags deployed, and the seat itself shows no visible damage.⁶ If any one of those is not met, replace the seat.

Who Is Exempt

The exemptions are narrow:¹

Passenger cars built before July 1, 1968, and all other motor vehicles built before January 1, 1972.
A driver or passenger whose physician certifies in writing that a physical disability makes seatbelt use inappropriate. The certification has to describe the disability and explain why a belt is not medically advisable.
U.S. Postal Service rural letter carriers while actively performing their delivery duties.
Children properly secured under the Child Passenger Protection Act, who are covered by that law instead.

There is no broad exemption for bus passengers, commercial vehicles, or any other category of traveler. If your vehicle is modern and you do not have a physician’s certification, the law applies to you.

Fines for an Adult Seatbelt Violation

The state fine for a seatbelt violation is capped at $25.² A local jurisdiction can add its own fine, but the combined total cannot exceed $45. The violation does not add points to your license, though it stays on your driving record for three years.⁷

Paying the fine before your first court appearance counts as a no-contest plea and closes the matter.² If you do not pay before that appearance and are later convicted or plead guilty, you owe an additional $25 in court costs on top of the fine.⁸ No other fees can be added. Paying early is the cheapest way to close the ticket.

Fines for Child Restraint Violations

A child restraint violation carries a fine between $25 and $100.⁴ In setting the amount, the court considers whether the child was restrained some other way, such as by a regular seatbelt instead of the required car seat. An alternative restraint does not erase the fine, but it can lower it.

There is one useful rule many parents miss. If you bring proof to court that you have since bought or rented an approved child safety seat, the court must reduce the fine to the $25 minimum.⁴ The statute is mandatory on that point, so the judge has no discretion to assess more once you provide the proof.

Can Not Wearing a Seatbelt Be Used Against You in a Lawsuit?

In most Arkansas civil cases, no. Evidence that an injured person was not wearing a seatbelt is not admissible in a civil lawsuit.⁹ If you are hit by another driver and sue for your injuries, your seatbelt status is off-limits.

A narrow exception exists in products liability cases that do not involve a claim about the seatbelt itself. There, the defendant can raise non-use, but only if they plead it in their formal response and then prove three things: that you were not wearing a seatbelt, that wearing one would have reduced your injuries, and the specific amount by which the injuries would have been reduced.⁹ That is a high bar, and it does not apply to a routine two-driver car crash case.

Commercial Drivers

Commercial drivers in Arkansas also fall under federal rules. Federal regulations require seat belts on commercial trucks, truck tractors, and buses built on or after January 1, 1965, and require drivers to wear them.¹⁰ The medical exemption available under state law does not carry over: federal rules for commercial motor vehicles do not allow a medical exemption from seatbelt use.¹¹

1
Justia. Arkansas Code 27-37-702 – Seat Belt Use Required – Applicability of Subchapter
2
Justia. Arkansas Code 27-37-706 – Penalties – Court Costs
3
Justia. Arkansas Code 27-34-104 – Requirements
4
Justia. Arkansas Code 27-34-103 – Penalty
5
Arkansas Highway Safety Office. Occupant Protection
6
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Car Seat Use After a Crash
7
Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. Violations and Points
8
Justia. Arkansas Code 16-10-305 – Court Costs
9
Justia. Arkansas Code 27-37-703 – Effect of Noncompliance
10
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. Does the USDOT Have a Regulation Requiring Working Safety Belts on Commercial Vehicles?
11
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. May a Driver Be Exempted from Wearing Seat Belts Because of a Medical Condition?