seats -- Exceptions.
(1) Except as otherwise provided in this section, "motor vehicle" as used in this section
means every vehicle designed to carry fifteen (15) or fewer passengers and used for
the transportation of persons, but the term does not include:
(a) Motorcycles;
(b) Motor-driven cycles; or
(c) Farm trucks registered for agricultural use only and having a gross weight of
one (1) ton or more.
(2) A person shall not sell any new motor vehicle in this state nor shall any person
make application for registering a new motor vehicle in this state unless the front or
forward seat or seats have adequate anchors or attachments secured to the floor
and/or sides to the rear of the seat or seats to which seat belts may be secured.
(3) (a) Any driver of a motor vehicle, when transporting a child of forty (40) inches
in height or less in a motor vehicle operated on the roadways, streets, and
highways of this state, shall have the child properly secured in a child restraint
system of a type meeting federal motor vehicle safety standards.
(b) Any driver of a motor vehicle, when transporting a child under the age of
eight (8) years who is between forty (40) inches and fifty-seven (57) inches in
height in a motor vehicle operated on the roadways, streets, and highways of
this state, shall have the child properly secured in a child booster seat. A child
of any age who is greater than fifty-seven (57) inches in height shall not be
required to be secured in a child booster seat under this section.
(4) As used in this section:
(a) "Child restraint system" means any device manufactured to transport children
in a motor vehicle which conforms to all applicable federal motor vehicle
safety standards; and
(b) "Child booster seat" means a child passenger restraint system that meets the
standards set forth in 49 C.F.R. Part 571 that is designed to elevate a child to
properly sit in a federally approved lap-and-shoulder belt system.
(5) Failure to use a child passenger restraint system or a child booster seat shall not be
considered as contributory negligence, nor shall such failure to use a passenger
restraint system or booster seat be admissible as evidence in the trial of any civil
action. Failure of any person to wear a seat belt shall not constitute negligence per
se.
(6) A person shall not operate a motor vehicle manufactured after 1981 on the public
roadways of this state unless the driver and all passengers are wearing a properly
adjusted and fastened seat belt, unless the passenger is a child who is secured as
required in subsection (3) of this section. The provisions of this subsection shall not
apply to:
(a) A person who has in his possession at the time of the conduct in question a
written statement from a physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or
licensed chiropractor that he is unable, for medical or physical reasons, to
wear a seat belt; or
(b) A letter carrier of the United States postal service while engaged in the
performance of his duties.
(7) A conviction for a violation of subsection (6) of this section shall not be transmitted
by the court to the Transportation Cabinet. The Transportation Cabinet shall not
include a conviction for a violation of subsection (6) of this section as part of any
person's driving history record.
(8) The provisions of subsection (6) of this section shall supersede any existing local
ordinance involving the use of seat belts. No ordinance contrary to subsection (6) of
this section may be enacted by any unit of local government.
Effective: July 15, 2016
History: Amended 2016 Ky. Acts ch. 87, sec. 4, effective July 15, 2016. -- Amended
2015 Ky. Acts ch. 91, sec. 1, effective June 24, 2015. -- Amended 2012 Ky. Acts ch.
130, sec. 1, effective July 12, 2012. -- Amended 2008 Ky. Acts ch. 108, sec. 1,
effective July 15, 2008. -- Amended 2006 Ky. Acts ch. 180, sec. 9, effective July 12,
2006. -- Amended 1994 Ky. Acts ch. 39, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1994. -- Amended
1988 Ky. Acts ch. 232, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1988. -- Amended 1982 Ky. Acts ch.
158, sec. 1, effective July 15, 1982. -- Created 1962 Ky. Acts ch. 76, sec. 1.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
20
cases (
8 in the last 5 years), 1987–2025 · leading case:
Commonwealth v. Fox, 48 S.W.3d 24 (Ky. 2001).
Commonwealth v. Fox, 48 S.W.3d 24 (Ky. 2001).
· cites it 9× “In 1982, the General Assembly amended KRS 189.125 to require child restraint seats for children under 40 inches in height.”
Wemyss v. Coleman, 729 S.W.2d 174 (Ky. 1987).
· cites it 4× “125 requires that seat belt anchors be provided in new passenger vehicles, and also provides that a "child restraint system" shall be utilized by any "resident parent or legal guardian of a child, forty inches (40") in height or less, when transporting his child in a motor…”
Brown v. Commonwealth, 174 S.W.3d 421 (Ky. 2005).
· cites it 2× “In addition to driving at a rate exceeding the speed limit and violating a traffic signal, there was substantial evidence that Appellant was watching television rather than monitoring the traffic at the intersection and that he attempted to "time" the traffic light despite the…”
Wendy Browning v. Edmonson Cnty., Ky., 18 F.4th 516 (6th Cir. 2021).
“See Ky. Rev. Stat. § 189.125(6). Nor does the fact that there was a police pursuit independently warrant the use of force, despite the seriousness of the offense, because C.”
Commonwealth v. Mitchell, 41 S.W.3d 434 (Ky. 2001).
· cites it 3× “The majority held that the failure to secure a child to a child seat and to secure the child seat to the automobile seat was a violation of KRS 189.125, but that because the violation of the statute could not create tort negligence, it therefore could not possibly constitute…”
Tetrick v. Frashure, 119 S.W.3d 89 (Ky. Ct. App. 2003).
“Mankin we stated in a footnote that KRS 189.125(6) created a duty to wear a seat belt.”
Montgomery v. Midkiff, 770 S.W.2d 689 (Ky. Ct. App. 1989).
“Moreover, the only statute dealing with seat belts is KRS 189.125 which does not mention common carriers.”
Geyer v. Mankin, 984 S.W.2d 104 (Ky. Ct. App. 1998).
“KRS 189.125(6). 5 . Instructing the jury in this manner is contrary to an instruction given in Carlson v.”
Bullitt Fiscal Court v. Bullitt Cnty. Bd. of Health, 434 S.W.3d 29 (Ky. 2014).
“See KRS 189.125. Smoking Statistics The two largest tobacco-producing states are Kentucky and North Carolina, accounting for 75% of tobacco grown in the United States in 2012.”
Commonwealth v. Gonzalez, 237 S.W.3d 575 (Ky. Ct. App. 2007).
“KRS 189.125. 5 . KRS 304.39-080. 6 . Gonzalez was arrested on May 28, 2005.”
Jamie E. Thomas v. Brian Allen (Ky. Ct. App. 2022).
· cites it 5× “010 and therefore that KRS 189.125 separately requires seatbelts on commercial quadricycles.”
— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 189.125(1) — 1 case
— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 189.125(2) — 1 case
Commonwealth v. Fox, 48 S.W.3d 24 (Ky. 2001).
“In 1982, the General Assembly amended KRS 189.125 to require child restraint seats for children under 40 inches in height.”
— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 189.125(3) — 2 cases
Brown v. Commonwealth, 174 S.W.3d 421 (Ky. 2005).
“In addition to driving at a rate exceeding the speed limit and violating a traffic signal, there was substantial evidence that Appellant was watching television rather than monitoring the traffic at the intersection and that he attempted to "time" the traffic light despite the…”
Commonwealth v. Fox, 48 S.W.3d 24 (Ky. 2001).
“In 1982, the General Assembly amended KRS 189.125 to require child restraint seats for children under 40 inches in height.”
— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 189.125(5) — 1 case
— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 189.125(6) — 11 cases
Wendy Browning v. Edmonson Cnty., Ky., 18 F.4th 516 (6th Cir. 2021).
“See Ky. Rev. Stat. § 189.125(6). Nor does the fact that there was a police pursuit independently warrant the use of force, despite the seriousness of the offense, because C.”
Tetrick v. Frashure, 119 S.W.3d 89 (Ky. Ct. App. 2003).
“Mankin we stated in a footnote that KRS 189.125(6) created a duty to wear a seat belt.”
Geyer v. Mankin, 984 S.W.2d 104 (Ky. Ct. App. 1998).
“KRS 189.125(6). 5 . Instructing the jury in this manner is contrary to an instruction given in Carlson v.”
— Ky. Rev. Stat. § 189.125(7) — 1 case
Commonwealth v. Fox, 48 S.W.3d 24 (Ky. 2001).
“In 1982, the General Assembly amended KRS 189.125 to require child restraint seats for children under 40 inches in height.”
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