A new rule published Tuesday will require cars to prompt rear-seat passengers to buckle their seatbelts by 2027.
Currently, federal regulations only require vehicles to prompt the driver to buckle their seatbelt if they start moving with it unfastened. New rules published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will add a requirement for front-seat passengers in 2026 and rear-seat passengers in 2027.
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The agency believes the rule “will prevent more than 500 injuries and save about 50 lives every year, once fully implemented.”
About 91.6% of Americans already buckle up in the front seats, the agency says. Just 81.7% do in the rear. Approximately half of all passenger-vehicle occupants who died in crashes in 2022 were unbelted, according to data from NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System.
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Congress charged NHTSA with writing new rules to promote road safety, but does not act on each rule the agency proposes. Like all federal agencies, NHTSA publishes proposed regulations for public comment and accepts feedback from affected industries before finalizing them.
In this case, the auto industry largely acceded to the proposal because automakers already have the technology to make such systems work. Many 2024 cars already sound a warning for unbelted rear seat passengers.
