Who Is Exempt From Wearing A Seatbelt In Montana?

Montana and it's citizens take car safety quite seriously implementing laws like requiring drivers as well as passengers to wear seatbelts and be strapped into car seats to prevent road fatalities. In Montana, Highway Patrolman say they rarely report a death when safety belts are engaged after a collision of accident.

Even though it is law in this state to wear a seatbelt, there are some exceptions for certain people not requiring they to wear one.

First we have the Montana code:

61-13-103. Seatbelt use required -- exceptions. (1) A driver may not operate a motor vehicle upon a highway of the state of Montana unless each occupant of a designated seating position is wearing a properly adjusted and fastened seatbelt or, if 61-9-420 applies, is properly restrained in a child safety restraint.

After that, they do have a section for people that the law does not apply to:

-An occupant of a motor vehicle in which all seatbelts are being used by other occupants.

-An operator of a motorcycle or a motor-driven cycle.

-An occupant of a vehicle licensed as special mobile equipment or an occupant who makes frequent stops with a motor vehicle during official job duties and who may be exempted by the department.

These exceptions only apply if the driver is safe and their vehicle is properly equipped for the manner of it's usage and is obeying traffic laws.

The department or its agent may not require a driver who may be in violation of this section to stop except:

-Upon reasonable cause to believe that the driver has violated another traffic regulation or that the driver's vehicle is unsafe or not equipped as required by law.

Other exceptions include passengers below 60 pounds, in that case they have to be in an approved safety car seat.