Child restraint systems; individuals under 18 years of age - 23 V.S.A. § 1258
(a) No individual shall operate a motor vehicle, other than a type I school bus, in this State upon a public highway unless every occupant under 18 years of age is properly restrained in a federally approved child restraint system as defined in 49 C.F.R. § 571.213, as may be amended, or a federally approved safety belt, as follows:
(1) a child under two years of age shall be properly secured in a federally approved rear-facing child restraint system with a harness, as those terms are defined in 49 C.F.R. § 571.213, as may be amended;
(2) a child under five years of age who is not properly secured in a federally approved rear-facing child restraint system in accordance with subdivision (1) of this subsection shall be properly secured in a forward-facing federally approved child restraint system with a harness until the child reaches the weight or height limit of the child restraint system as set by the manufacturer;
(3) a child under eight years of age who is not properly secured in a federally approved child restraint system in accordance with subdivision (1) or (2) of this subsection shall be properly secured in a booster seat, as defined in 49 C.F.R. § 571.213, as may be amended;
(4) a child under 18 years of age who is not properly secured in a federally approved child restraint system in accordance with subdivision (1), (2), or (3) of this subsection shall be restrained in a safety belt system
(5) a child under 13 years of age shall always, if practical, ride in a rear seat of a motor vehicle; and
(6) no child shall be secured in a rear-facing child restraint system in the front seat of a motor vehicle that is equipped with an active passenger-side airbag unless the airbag is deactivated.
(b) An individual shall not be adjudicated in violation of this section if:
(1) the motor vehicle is regularly used to transport passengers for hire, except a motor vehicle owned or operated by a child care facility;
(2) the motor vehicle was manufactured without safety belts; or
(3) the individual has been ordered by an enforcement officer, a firefighter, or an authorized civil authority to evacuate individuals from a stricken area.
Safety belts; persons 18 years of age or older - 23 V.S.A. § 1259
(a) The operator of a motor vehicle shall be guilty of a violation of this section if any person 18 years of age and older is occupying a seating position which has been manufactured with a federally approved safety belt system and is not restrained by the safety belt system while the motor vehicle is in motion on a public highway.
(b) A person is required to be restrained in a safety belt system unless:
(1) the person is a rural mail carrier of the United States Postal Service operating a motor vehicle in the performance of employment;
(2) the person is a driver or passenger frequently stopping and leaving the motor vehicle or delivering property from the motor vehicle, if the speed of the motor vehicle between stops does not exceed 15 miles per hour;
(3) the person is the operator of any farm tractor;
(4) the person is a member of the emergency personnel of an emergency motor vehicle and finds it necessary to be unrestrained in order to perform his or her duties;
(5) the motor vehicle the person is occupying is a bus or taxi;
(6) the person is required to be restrained under section 1258 of this title; or
(7) the person has been ordered by an enforcement officer, a firefighter, or an authorized civil authority to evacuate persons from a stricken area.
(c) Noncompliance with the provisions of this section shall not be admissible as evidence in any civil proceeding.
(d) Failure to wear a safety belt in violation of this section shall not constitute negligence or contributory negligence in any civil proceeding or criminal action, nor be entered as evidence to bar prosecution of a criminal offense.
(e) This section may be enforced only if a law enforcement officer has detained the operator of a motor vehicle for a suspected violation of another traffic offense. An operator shall not be subject to the penalty established in this section unless the operator is required to pay a penalty for the primary offense.
(f) The penalty for violation of this section shall be as follows:
(1) $25.00 for a first violation;
(2) $50.00 for a second violation;
(3) $100.00 for third and subsequent violations.