What are the penalties for not wearing a seat belt as required?
2 Answers
According to the relevant provisions in the "Regulations for the Implementation of the Road Traffic Safety Law of the People's Republic of China," the following penalties apply for not wearing a seat belt while driving: When driving on urban expressways, the driver will be fined and penalized with 2 demerit points for not using a seat belt as required. When driving on roads other than highways or urban expressways, the driver will be fined but not penalized with demerit points for not using a seat belt as required. Introduction to car seat belts: Car seat belts are safety devices designed to restrain occupants during a collision and prevent secondary collisions with the steering wheel, dashboard, etc., or to prevent occupants from being thrown out of the vehicle, which could lead to fatalities or injuries. How car seat belts work: The retractor inside contains a ratchet mechanism. Under normal circumstances, occupants can pull the webbing freely and at a constant speed while seated. However, when the webbing is continuously pulled out and suddenly stops or when the vehicle encounters an emergency, the ratchet mechanism locks automatically, preventing the webbing from being pulled out further.
I remember last time when I drove my friends for an outing, I forgot to fasten my seatbelt midway and got caught by a traffic cop. The 200-yuan fine was nothing, but the real kicker was losing 2 points, which later caused my insurance premium to increase by a few hundred yuan. That lesson was so profound that now the first thing I do when getting in the car is the ‘click’ of buckling up. Safety isn’t something to take lightly—statistics show seatbelts can reduce accident casualties by half. On city roads, the penalty is 50-200 yuan and 2 points deducted, while it’s even stricter on highways. Once it became a habit, I started seeing it as a sort of talisman—it makes driving much more reassuring and saves me the stress of worrying about tickets.
