seatbelts news stories on Newser

Latest Car Safety Trend: Dog Seatbelts

Matt Cantor — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 09:38:36 CDT

From animal and road safety advocates comes a new rule of the road: Buckle up your pup. Business is picking up for pet-product firms that offer seatbelts for your dog, with one company pulling in $5 million in revenue last year, reports the Wall Street Journal . Police and lawmakers are...

Texas Police Ticket 10-Year-Old Boy

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 13:53:17 CDT

A 10-year-old central Texas boy has been given a ticket for wearing his seat belt incorrectly. Fourth-grader Marshall May says he was in a minivan's passenger seat when he stuck his head out the window and his seat belt slipped. A police officer pulled over the van that Marshall's 19-year-old...

Advocates Push for Rear Seatbelt Laws

Ambreen Ali — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:50:01 CDT

Highway safety advocates are pushing for a federal transportation bill to include incentives for states to make safety belts mandatory for all passengers, but opponents say the move would set a precedent for the government to tell citizens what to do, USA Today reports. Though studies show that rear seatbelts...

Toyota Recalls 1.3M Cars Over Seatbelt Issue

Ambreen Ali — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 15:56:01 CST

About 1.3 million Toyota Yaris models are being recalled for repairs after a seatbelt defect was discovered that, during a severe frontal collision, can cause a pad inside the vehicle to ignite, the Car Connection reports. Some 134,900 US models, from 2006 and ’07, are affected; the Yaris’...

Beer Gets Seatbelt, Kid Doesn't

Sam Gale Rosen — Tue, 13 May 2008 17:28:08 CDT

An Australian man has been fined after buckling up his beer but letting a 5-year-old child ride sitting on the floor of his car. "The concern is about people's priorities," a police spokesperson told the Brisbane Times, adding, "It is very unusual to see someone go to the trouble of...

Hey, 'Hannah': Buckle Up!

Rob Quinn — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 10:05:00 CST

Miley Cyrus, aka Hannah Montana, is in hot water, but not for breaking curfew or forgetting her homework. Consumer Reports is on the teen superstar's case for setting a bad example: not buckling her seatbelt. A scene in the 3-D blockbuster Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds shows Miley...

Corzine: Do As I Say, Not As I Did

M. Morris — Fri, 25 May 2007 15:21:17 CDT

Jon Corzine dodged a bullet, and he wants to make sure he isn't alone. The New Jersey governor, gravely injured in an SUV crash last month while not wearing a seatbelt, appears in a new 30-second TV ad that makes it clear he's learned his lesson. Today he joined the...

Look, Ma. No Seatbelt!

M. Morris — Wed, 23 May 2007 16:07:25 CDT

The annual national campaign to encourage seatbelt use is off to a slow start thanks to a Texas ranch owner whose access to private roads exempts him from the law. President Bush showed the NATO secretary-general around around his spread in Crawford over the weekend, and although he didn't "click...