Seat Belt Laws in Arkansas & FAQ's

Drivers in Arkansas are required to wear a seat belt. However, not all passengers are required to use a safety belt. Knowing Arkansas’ seat belt laws is important both for your safety and to avoid breaking the law in Arkansas. Let’s discuss everything you need to know about seat belt laws in Arkansas…

Why Seatbelts Save Lives

Today’s technology makes cars safer than ever before. Between lane assist and automatic braking, you’re surely safe behind the wheel. But you might be surprised to learn that one of the most important features for car safety has been around since the 1800s: the trusty seat belt.

While they’re not exactly new to the market, seat belts remain one of the most effective ways to reduce injuries and prevent death in car crashes. In fact, seat belts are so crucial for car safety that Arkansas lawmakers have passed several laws regarding their use. Let’s take a look.

Who Is Required to Wear a Seat Belt in Arkansas?

The laws that govern seat belt usage in Arkansas depend on three factors: location, age, and weight:

Location: Where are you sitting? Arkansas law requires each driver and front-seat passenger to wear a seat belt at all times. This applies to any street or highway in Arkansas.
Age: All children under the age of 15 must wear a seat belt, regardless of their location in the vehicle. Added Note: children under the age of 13 should ride in the back seat.
Weight: Children who are younger than 6 years old and who weigh less than 60 pounds should ride in a child safety seat. Car seats should never be placed in the front seat of a vehicle. If the child is older than 6 years or weighs more than 60 pounds, he or she can use the vehicle’s standard seat belt.

Let’s sum up: all Arkansas drivers are required to buckle up! All front-seat passengers in Arkansas are required to wear a seat belt. And anyone under 15 must buckle up.

Does this mean that adults in Arkansas can opt not to “buckle up” in the back seat? Legally, yes. You do not have to use a seat belt if you’re in the backseat of a vehicle and over the age of 14. But, the research is clear that wearing a seat belt significantly reduces your risk of injury or death in a wreck.

Seat Belt Exceptions in Arkansas

It’s worth noting that there are exceptions to wearing a seat belt or NOT wearing a seat belt.

For example, if the driver has a restricted license, every passenger in the car must use their seat belt. This applies to drivers under the age of 18 as well as those with restrictions for prior driving offenses. In the back seat while your teen driver is learning to drive? Then you must buckle up! It’s the law.

Arkansas seat belt laws have not changed since 2019. Drivers and front-seat passengers are still required to buckle up at all times in a motor vehicle. But there are a few exceptions. You do not have to use a seat belt in Arkansas if:

passenger automobiles manufactured before 1968 and all automobiles manufactured before 1972
passengers and drivers with a physical disability that contraindicates the wearing of a seatbelt (for which they must have a doctor’s note)
children who require protection and are properly restrained
drivers who are rural letter carriers of the US Post Service while on the job. That’s right, postal service workers are not required to buckle up while delivering the mail in Arkansas.
those in a wheelchair shall follow any of the 2 subsections: 1) wear a properly fastened seat belt secured to the wheelchair, or 2) have the wheelchair properly secured in the car

For more information on using child safety seats, visit our recent post: Car Seat Laws in Arkansas.

Enforcing Arkansas’ Seat Belt Laws

The Primary Seat Belt Law in Arkansas states any police officer can stop and ticket someone who isn’t wearing a seatbelt, without any prior aggravations.

Under Arkansas law, anybody not wearing a seatbelt can be ticketed (Justia Law). If you’re unsure then we recommend buckling up!

We’re sure you’ve seen the state’s campaign: Click It or Ticket!

Click It or Ticket

To minimize seat belt violations, the Arkansas Department of Public Safety launched the “Click It or Ticket” campaign to encourage seat belt use while driving.

It begins every year around Memorial Day weekend and goes until the first week of June. Click It or Ticket protects drivers and passengers from unnecessary injuries and death. Each year, the campaign starts again during Thanksgiving break to make holiday plans safer.

During this time, Arkansas State Troopers team up with local police officers to ensure drivers obey the rules of the road, specifically the seat belt laws. Arkansas State Police will intensify patrols along interstates, with officers every 20 miles since the holidays are the most traveled road times during the year.

Click H ERE for more information on the click it or ticket message and how it benefits Arkansans.

Seat Belt FAQs

Let’s dive into a few of the more commonly asked questions we get regarding the rules of the road as they concern seat belts:

Is It Illegal to Ride in the Bed of a Truck?

The law in Arkansas says yes. AR Code 27-35-104 specifies:

“No person shall ride on any vehicle upon any portion of the vehicle not designed or intended for the use of passengers.”

Because truck beds were designed to carry cargo, not people, they would fall under this category. To protect your friends and avoid a traffic stop, insist that all passengers ride inside the vehicle.

Can Arkansas Police Stop a Vehicle if the Passenger Isn’t Wearing a Seat Belt?

Arkansas has primary-offense seat belt laws. This means that officers don’t need another reason to pull you over. If they see a driver or passenger not wearing a seat belt as required by law, they can stop that car and issue a citation.

Why Should You Wear A Seat Belt?

Seat belts save lives. Seat belt use saves an estimated 15,000 vehicle passengers each year in America. To elaborate, here are 5 primary reasons that a seat belt prevents injury:

Safety belts prevent ejection from the vehicle. 80% of ejected passengers suffer fatal injuries.
It shifts all crash forces to the strongest parts of the body.
It spreads a collision’s “crash force” over a widened area of the body.
Seat belts allow the body to gradually slow down during an impact.
Finally and most importantly, it protects the head and spinal cord.

Let’s dive into some seat belt statistics for more perspective on the importance of a safety belt.

Seat Belt Statistics in Arkansas

Vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for people ages 1-34 (CDC, May 2017).
In Arkansas, nearly 1 out of every 2 people killed in a car crash aren’t restrained (FARS, May 2017).
2 out of every 5 teenagers (aged 14-19) killed in car crashes were not wearing a seatbelt (FARS, May 2017).
Ejection from a car crash is one of the most injurious events that can happen to someone in a car crash (NHTSA 2017).
In 2015, 81% of passenger vehicle occupants who were ejected in a car crash were killed (NHTSA).
In 2017, Arkansas seat belt use was only 80% while the national rate is around 90% (NHTSA).
In 2023, an estimated 91.9% of passengers wore a seat belt.
When lap and shoulder belts are used properly, it’s proven that the risk of fatal injury is reduced between 45% and 50% (NHTSA).