The Department of Motor Vehicles has learned recently that some motorboat registration certificates may have been sent without the required annual validation decals.  The Department is in the process of mailing the decal to the impacted motorboat registrants, but in the interim, you may encounter a properly registered motorboat that is unable to display necessary decals. 

Until such time that the Department can distribute all required decals, the Department asks that you exercise judgement and leniency if you encounter a motorboat being operated without updated validation decals.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Enforcement & Safety Office during normal business hours. 

A child under two years of age must be properly secured in a federally approved rear-facing child car seat with a harness.

A child in a rear-facing car seat must not ride in front of an active airbag.

A child over 2 years of age but under five years of age must be properly secured in a federally approved rear-facing or forward-facing car seat with a harness.

A child under eight years of age who is not properly secured in a harnessed car seat must be properly secured in a booster seat.

A child under 13 years of age must, if practical, ride in the back seat.

A child under 18 years of age who is not properly secured in a harnessed car seat or booster seat must be wearing a seat belt.

Full text of the law

* * * Child Restraint Systems * * *

23 V.S.A. § 1258 is amended to read:

CHILD RESTRAINT SYSTEMS; INDIVIDUALS UNDER 18 YEARS OF AGE

(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.

(c) The civil penalty for violation of this section shall be as follows:

(1) $25.00 for a first violation;

(2) $50.00 for a second violation; and

(3) $100.00 for third and subsequent violations.