DC requires seat belts in taxi cabs, but I do not think they mean back seats, only front seats. Why? Because I have never heard of anyone getting a $50 fine for no seat belt in the back seat. Have you?
Then why do taxi cabs have these seat belt stickers in the back windows?
I wear a seat belt in cabs, and not because of the threat of a fine. Taxis aren’t somehow exempt from the laws of physics which can lead to you being killed or maimed in an accident in your own car.
Starting Oct 2000, Taxis can be fined $100 for failing to post a required seat belt use sign.
Back seat law is a secondary violation, meaning law enforcement cannot stop a vehicle solely for a seat belt infraction. If a driver is pulled over for another reason, non-buckled occupants of the back seat could face a $10 fine.
Mariana,
Then why does the sticker say “$50 fine” if its $100 or $10?
A cab driver is fined $100 for failing to display the sticker. As to $10 or $50-either DC TaxiCab commission rule book or the sticker is outdated.
I don’t think I’ve ever even *seen* seatbelts in the backseat of a cab.
I’ve seen them, but the only time I’ve used them is to strap in my happy little Hanalei’s car seat
@mariana The driver is fined $100 for failure to display the sticker. The sticker seems to imply that it’s the passenger who is fined for not wearing the seatbelt.
And the winner is–Police. If there’s no sticker they fine the driver, if there’s a sticker-the passenger. With all this said i never heard of anybody being fined for not wearing seatbelts on the back seat of a taxi.
Hm. A driver told me a few weeks ago that he was pulled over and the rider was fined $50. He said DC police were really cracking down on it. Maybe he was bs-ing me, but drivers usually know what’s up.