The National Highway Traffic SafetyAdministration (NHTSA) has requested comments to amend FederalMotor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) that will require aseat belt use warning system for rear seats. (Photo:Shutterstock)

Federal regulators should amend vehicle safety standards torequire a visual display that alerts the driver when passengers inthe rear seats are not wearing their seat belts, the Insurance Institute forHighway Safety and the Highway Loss Data Institute said in arecent regulatory comment.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)requested comments on whether to require rearseat belt reminders in a possible update to vehicle safetystandards.

Consumers want these reminders, IIHS research had found.However, detecting unbelted passengers in the back can becomplicated, David Kidd, HLDI senior research scientist, wrote inthe comment.

Without a complex detection system, a toddler properlysecured in a child seat could trigger a false alarm, for example.That makes an audible alert impractical for now. A display-basedsystem would allow drivers to remind passengers to buckle up whileminimizing the aggravation caused by false warnings.

The rear-seat system should also include an audible and visualwarning when rear seat belts are unfastened while the vehicle is inmotion — an unlikely scenario for false alarms.

In addition, the NHTSA should update its standards for safetybelt reminders in the front of the vehicle, Kidd wrote.

The current standard applies only to the driver's seat. Itrequires a 4-8-second continuous or intermittent warning sound anda continuous or flashing warning light or text alert that lasts atleast 60 seconds. Both warnings must be triggered when the ignitionis switched on and the driver's lap belt is not in use.

However, IIHS research has found that audible warnings that last at least 90 secondsincrease the seat belt use of drivers who do not routinely use aseat belt by more than a third. Implementing such warnings in thefront seats could therefore save up to 1,489 lives each year,according to the IIHS.

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