New federal rule extends seatbelt warning chimes to all car seats

The Department of Transportation’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration finalized a rule Monday that will require all car seats to adopt the “ding, ding, ding” safety belt chimes with warning lights that have long reminded drivers to buckle up.

The amendment to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 208 will require automakers to add front passenger seat warnings to all new cars, trucks, buses — except for school buses — and multipurpose passenger vehicles starting in September 2026.

Manufacturers must add the warning system to the rear seats of vehicles beginning in September 2027.

The new rule covers vehicles weighing up to 10,000 pounds and will prevent at least 500 accidents and 50 deaths a year, NHTSA said. Early estimates from the federal agency indicate that 40,990 people died from motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2023.

“While seat belt use has improved for decades, there’s still more we can do to make sure everyone buckles up,” said Adam Raviv, NHTSA chief counsel. “These new requirements will help to increase seat belt use, especially for rear seat passengers, by enhancing reminders for vehicle occupants to buckle up.”

In 2022, NHTSA estimated that 91.6% of front-seat passengers and 81.7% of back-seat passengers wore seatbelts. According to the agency’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System, roughly half of all passengers who died in crashes that year were “unbelted.”