New Law Requires Backseat Passengers to Buckle Up

Buckling up isn’t just a matter of safety for backseat passengers anymore.

Starting Sunday, it’s now also the law in Illinois. 

Up until this year, only drivers, front seat passengers and children were required to wear seatbelts.

The new law states everyone in the car must wear a seatbelt unless they fall under certain exemptions. Those include:

• Delivery people who don’t travel more than 15 mph between stops;
• Someone who has a doctor’s order saying they can’t wear a seatbelt for medical reasons;
• A driver who drives a vehicle backwards;
• A car built before 1965;
• A motorcycle, moped or other such vehicle that’s not required to have seatbelts;
• Drivers or passengers in emergency vehicles;
• Or backseat taxi passengers.

Violators of the law will be subject to a $25 ticket.