Roadwise States Michigan Driving lessons Seat belts and child safety seats Michigan driving lesson · Traffic Laws: Staying Safe
Seat belts and child safety seats A 3-minute lesson from the Michigan course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.
Read time 3 minutes
Course unit Traffic Laws: Staying Safe
Checkpoint questions 6
Source pages 39, 40 Buckling up is the single most effective thing you can do to protect yourself in a crash. Michigan's belt and child-seat laws decide who must buckle up, where, and in what kind of seat.
Know the rule
Click It or Ticket: an officer may stop a vehicle if the driver and occupants are not properly buckled up.
Handbook p. 39 ↗ Michigan law requires: Everyone in the front seat, including the driver, to buckle up All passengers younger than 16 to buckle up in every seating position Children under 8 or under 4 feet 9 inches in a child seat or booster, in every seat Handbook p. 39 ↗ Know the rule
Wear the shoulder belt across the middle of your chest away from your neck, and the lap belt low across your hips below your stomach. Air bags are not a substitute. Drivers exempt for a medical condition must carry a doctor's statement.
Handbook p. 39 ↗ Know the rule
Children ride in a car seat or booster until they are 8 years old or 4 feet 9 inches tall, whichever comes first. Parents are encouraged to go by height, since a belt may not fit a smaller child.
Handbook p. 39 ↗ Child passenger rules: Never take a child out of a car seat to nurse while the vehicle is moving Under age 4 must ride in a rear seat if there is one (unless all are taken by under-4 children) A rear-facing seat may go in front only if the passenger air bag is deactivated Never hold a child on your lap or buckle a child in with another passenger Handbook p. 39 ↗ 15 mph Anyone under 18 may not ride in an open pickup bed when the truck goes faster than this
Handbook p. 39 ↗ Know the rule
The pickup-bed law has exceptions for farmers, construction workers, the military, parade participants and authorized emergency and rescue personnel.
Handbook p. 39 ↗ Know the rule
Avoid secondhand car seats — they may not meet safety standards or may have been in a crash. Replace any seat that has been in a crash.
Handbook p. 40 ↗ Put it into practice
Your nephew is 7 but already 4 feet 10 inches tall. He has met the height requirement first, so he may ride using the seat belt instead of a booster.
Check your understanding Read the question, decide on an answer, then open it to check the explanation. These are Roadwise study questions based on the source handbook.
Regardless of age, which vehicle occupants must wear a seat belt under Michigan law? Only passengers under 16 All front-seat occupants, including the driver Only rear-seat passengers Only the driver Answer: All front-seat occupants, including the driver
Michigan law requires all front seat passengers, including the driver, to be buckled up.
Handbook p. 39 ↗ A 15-year-old is riding in the back seat. Michigan's seat belt law requires passengers under what age to be buckled up in every seating position, not just the front? 14 18 12 16 Answer: 16
All passengers younger than age 16 must be buckled up, in all seating positions.
Handbook p. 39 ↗ A child is 4 feet, 6 inches tall and 7 years old. What restraint is required? No restraint needed at that height A child-safety or booster seat A seat belt only A rear-facing seat only Answer: A child-safety or booster seat
Children younger than 8 or under 4 feet 9 inches must be in an approved child-safety or booster seat.
Handbook p. 39 ↗ May you remove a child from a car seat to nurse while the vehicle is moving? No, this is prohibited Yes, if brief Yes, if a passenger holds the child Yes, if you stay under 25 mph Answer: No, this is prohibited
Removing a child from a car seat to nurse while the vehicle is moving is prohibited.
Handbook p. 39 ↗ If all rear seats are occupied by children under age 4, where may an additional under-4 child ride? On an adult's lap in the rear seat Sharing a rear belt with a sibling In the front seat using the adult belt In front, in a child restraint Answer: In front, in a child restraint
If all rear seats are occupied by children under 4, the child may be positioned in a restraint system in the front seat.
Handbook p. 39 ↗ At what speed does the pickup-truck-bed restriction for under-18 riders apply? Any speed at all Faster than 25 mph Faster than 15 mph Faster than 10 mph Answer: Faster than 15 mph
Anyone under 18 is prohibited from riding in an open truck bed traveling more than 15 mph, with some exceptions.
Handbook p. 39 ↗ Previous lesson Michigan's cell phone law and Kelsey's Law Next lesson Children in parked cars and air bag safety More in Traffic Laws: Staying Safe About the source Roadwise’s Michigan course uses the driver handbook edition supplied with this study pack. This lesson cites source pages 39, 40. The linked PDF is a third-party mirror of the handbook, rather than a government-hosted page.
Open the handbook source PDF · View the source edition
For current application requirements, fees, appointments, and the format that applies to your age or license type, check Michigan’s SOS. Roadwise provides study material and does not issue permits or licenses.