NHTSA Final Rule: Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Occupant Crash Protection, Seat Belt Reminder Systems, Controls and Displays

This document amends Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 208, “Occupant crash protection,” to require a seat belt use warning system for rear seats. The rule also updates and enhances the current seat belt warning requirements for the driver's seat belt and extends these requirements to the front outboard passenger seat. The final rule applies (with some exceptions) to passenger cars, trucks, most buses, and multipurpose passenger vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating of 4,536 kilograms (10,000 pounds) or less. This document also makes related amendments to FMVSS No. 101, “Controls and displays.”

DATES:

Effective date: The effective date of this final rule is March 20, 2025.

Compliance date: The compliance date of this final rule is September 1, 2026, for the front seat belt warning system requirements and September 1, 2027, for the rear seat belt warning system requirements, with optional early compliance permitted. Multi-stage manufacturers and alterers would have an additional year to comply.

Petitions for reconsideration: Petitions for reconsideration of this final rule must be received not later than February 18, 2025.

Published in the Federal Register January 3, 2025, page 390.

View final rule.

New Text

§571.101 Standard No. 101; Controls anddisplays.

S5.5.6(a) Except as provided in S5.5.6(b) and (c), messages displayed in a common space may be cancelable automatically or by the driver.

(b) Telltales for high beams, turn signal, low tire pressure, and passenger air bag off, and telltales for which the color red is required in table 1 to this section must not be cancelable while the underlying condition for their activation exists.

(c) Telltales for the seat belts must not be cancelable by the driver before the minimum durations are satisfied but may be cancellable automatically as specified in FMVSS No. 208 (§571.208).

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Table 1 to §571.101

Table 2 to §571.101

§571.208 Standard No. 208; Occupantcrash protection.

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S4.5.3.3(b) Conform to the seat belt warning system requirements of S7.3 or S7.5 of this standard, as applicable.