WEARING OF SEAT BELTS IN MOTOR VEHICLES [S.L.65.12 1 
SUBSIDIARY LEGISLATION 65.12 
WEARING OF SEAT BELTS IN MOTOR VEHICLES 
REGULATIONS 
23rd September, 2003; 
1st January, 2004; 
1st June, 2004 
LEGAL NOTICE 252 of 2003. 
Part I 
PRELIMINARY 
Title and 
commencement. 
1. (1) The title of these Regulations is the Wearing of Seat 
Belts in Motor Vehicles Regulations. 
(2) These regulations shall come into force as follows: 
(a) regulations 1 to 4 and 13 to 17 on the date of 
publication of these regulations; 
(b) regulations 7 to 12 on the 1st January 2004; and 
(c) regulations 5 and 6 on the 1st June 2004. 
Interpretation. 2. In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires: 
''adult'' means a person who is over the age of twelve years; 
''certification of medical exemption'' means a certificate drawn 
up in terms of the Second Schedule and issued by a competent 
medical authority, certifying that it is inadvisable on medical 
grounds for a person to wear a seat belt; 
''Chairman'' means the Chairman of the Malta Transport 
Authority; 
''child'' means a person who is under the age of twelve years and 
is less than 150 centimetres in height; 
''child restraint system'' means a system combining a seat, fixed 
to the structure of the vehicle by appropriate means which has at 
least one anchorage point located on the seat structure carrying the 
United Nations ''E'' mark or BS ''kitemark''; 
''child safety lock'' means a lock which can only be operated by 
an adult and cannot be tampered with or operated by a child; 
''competent medical authority'' means a medical practitioner or 
group of medical practitioners; 
''driver'' means the person who drives a motor vehicle on the 
public highway; 
''front seat'' in relation to a vehicle means a seat which is wholly 
or partially in the front of the vehicle; 
''gross vehicle weight'' or ''g.v.w'' means the road weight 
specified by the manufacturer as being the maximum design weight 
capacity of the vehicle, such weight being the combined weight of 
the vehicle, the maximum specified load, the driver and a tank of

2 [S.L.65.12 WEARING OF SEAT BELTS IN MOTOR VEHICLES 
fuel; 
''light goods vehicle'' means a goods vehicle which has a 
maximum gross vehicle weight not exceeding 3.5 tonnes g.v.w.; 
''M2 vehicle'' means a vehicle which is designed to carry 
passengers and is fitted with more than eight seats in addition to the 
driver’s seat, which has a maximum gross vehicle weight, which 
does not exceed 3.5 tonnes g.v.w., and which is not constructed or 
adapted for the carriage of standing passengers; 
''passenger car'' means a vehicle designed to carry passengers 
which has up to eight seats excluding the driver’s seat; 
''public highway'' means national arterial, distributor, access and 
local access roads; 
''rear seat'' in relation to a vehicle, means any seat which is not a 
front seat; 
''seat'' means a system which may or may not be integral with the 
vehicle structure complete with trim intended to seat one adult 
person. The term covers both an individual seat and part of a bench 
intended to seat one person; 
''seat belt'' means an assembly of straps with a securing buckle, 
adjusting devices and attachments capable of being anchored inside 
a power-driven vehicle and designed to diminish the risk of injury 
to the person wearing it; 
''vehicle'' means a motorised vehicle which is designed for use on 
the public highway, which has at least four wheels and a maximum 
design speed exceeding twenty-five kilometres per hour; 
''young child'' means a person who is under the age of three 
years. 
Part II 
WEARING OF SEAT BELTS BY ADULTS 
Wearing of seat 
belts by drivers. 
3. Every driver on the public highway shall wear a seat belt 
when using any of the following categories of vehicles: 
(a) passenger cars; 
(b) M2 vehicles; and 
(c) light goods vehicles: 
Provided that the occupied seats are fitted with such 
equipment. 
Wearing of seat 
belts in the front 
seat by adult 
passengers. 
4. Every adult, travelling as a front seat passenger on the 
public highway, shall wear a seat belt when using any of the 
following categories of vehicles, provided that the occupied seats 
are fitted with such equipment: 
(a) passenger cars; 
(b) M2 vehicles; and 
(c) light goods vehicles.

WEARING OF SEAT BELTS IN MOTOR VEHICLES [S.L.65.12 3 
Wearing of seat 
belts in the rear 
seat by adult 
passengers. 
5.* Every adult, travelling as a rear seat passenger on the 
public highway shall wear a seat belt when using a passenger car, 
provided that the occupied seats are fitted with such equipment. 
Priority of seat 
occupation. 
6.* Every adult, travelling as a rear seat passenger shall first 
occupy the rear seat equipped with seat belts and then occupy the 
other seats. 
Part III 
WEARING OF SEAT BELTS AND USE OF RESTRAINT 
SYSTEMS BY CHILDREN 
Restraint of young 
children in the 
front seat. 
7. (1) A young child travelling in the front seat of any vehicle 
shall always be carried in a child restraint system that is suitable to 
the child’s weight as set out in the First Schedule. 
(2) No adult seat belt shall be applied to a young child. 
(3) A child restraint system facing the rear seat shall not be 
fitted to a front seat protected by an airbag unless such airbag has 
been deactivated. 
Restraint of 
children. 
8.. (1) A child travelling either as a front seat passenger or a 
rear seat passenger shall be restrained using a child restraint system 
that is suitable for the child’s weight as set out in the First Schedule 
when using a passenger car. 
(2) A child travelling as a front seat passenger shall be 
restrained using a child restraint system that is suitable for the 
child’s weight, as set out in the First Schedule, when using any of 
the following category of vehicles: 
(a) M2 vehicles, and 
(b) light goods vehicles. 
Priority of seat 
occupation for 
children. 
9. A child shall first occupy a seat equipped with a child 
restraint system that is suitable for the child’s weight as set out in 
the First Schedule and only after that occupy other seats not 
equipped with such restraint systems. 
Use of seat belts by 
children. 
10. If a child restraint system has not been fitted to the vehicle, 
a seat belt, if available, must be worn at all times by a child 
provided that no seat belt shall be worn by a young child. 
Fitting of motor 
vehicles with seat 
belts. 
11. The Chairman may specify by notice in the Gazette the 
year of production of such motor vehicles that shall be fitted with 
seat belts. 
Child-safety lock. 12. If the vehicle has not been equipped with a passenger seat 
belt on which a child restraint device can be affixed, a person shall 
not drive a motor vehicle on a public highway with a young child in 
the rear of the vehicle unless that child is seated next to an adult 
person, or unless the rear doors of the vehicle are fitted and locked 
with a child-safety lock. 
Prohibition of 
removal of seat 
belts. 
13. No person shall have a seat belt removed from a vehicle 
that has been manufactured with such a device fitted as a standard 
feature. 
*in force as from 1st June, 2004.

4 [S.L.65.12 WEARING OF SEAT BELTS IN MOTOR VEHICLES 
Part IV 
EXEMPTIONS 
Exemptions. 14. The provisions of these regulations shall not apply to any 
person who is - 
(a) using a motor vehicle constructed or adapted for the 
delivery or collection of goods when carrying out local 
rounds of deliveries or collections; or 
(b) reversing or manoeuvring the motor vehicle for a short 
distance in a limited space; or 
(c) a qualified driver and supervising the holder of a 
provisional learning licence when the holder is 
performing any manoeuvre mentioned in paragraph 
(b); or 
(d) in possession of a certification of medical exemption 
as provided in the Second Schedule; or 
(e) a member of the Police Force or of the Prison Service 
while protecting or escorting persons; or 
(f) in the service of a fire brigade and is wearing 
operational clothing or equipment; or 
(g) a medical officer or an attendant whilst attending to 
patients travelling in any ambulance; or 
(h) conducting a driving competence test; or 
(i) the driver of a taxi-car while seeking hire or answering 
a call for hire, or carrying a passenger for hire, as the 
case may be. 
Criminal liability. 15. Whenever an offence against the provisions of these 
regulations has been committed, criminal liability shall lie as 
follows:
(a) in respect of regulations 3, 7, 8, 9 and 10, criminal 
liability shall vest in the driver of the vehicle; 
(b) in respect of regulations 4, 5 and 6, criminal liability 
shall vest in the passenger of the vehicle who is not 
wearing a fitted seat belt at the time of the commission 
of the offence if such passenger is over the age of 
sixteen years; 
(c) in respect of regulations 4, 5 and 6, where no 
passenger as defined in paragraph (b) is present in the 
vehicle, criminal liability shall vest in the driver; 
(d) in respect of regulation 12 criminal liability shall vest 
with the registered user or the owner of the vehicle, 
unless such user proves before or during the 
proceedings that the vehicle was being used on the 
public highway, at the time the offence was 
committed, without his permission or authority; 
(e) in respect of regulation 13, criminal liability shall vest 
with the person who instructed the removal of the seat 
belt.

WEARING OF SEAT BELTS IN MOTOR VEHICLES [S.L.65.12 5 
Fines and 
penalties. 
16. Any person found guilty of committing any offence 
mentioned in these regulations shall, on conviction, be liable to a 
fine (ammenda) of not less than ten liri and not exceeding twenty 
five liri.

6 [S.L.65.12 WEARING OF SEAT BELTS IN MOTOR VEHICLES 
FIRST SCHEDULE 
(Regulations 7, 8 and 9) 
ADVISORY NOTICE ON THE USAGE OF CHILD RESTRAINT SYSTEMS 
SECOND SCHEDULE 
(Regulation 14(d)) 
MODEL MEDICAL CERTIFICATE 
CHILD RESTRAINT TYPE WEIGHT RANGE AGE RANGE (APPROX.) 
BABY SEAT UP TO 10 KGS BIRTH TO 9 MONTHS 
CHILD SEAT 9 KGS TO 18 KGS 6 MONTHS TO 4 YEARS 
BOOSTER SEAT 9 KGS TO 25 KGS 6 MONTHS TO 6 YEARS 
BOOSTER CUSHION 15 KGS TO 36 KGS 4 YEARS TO 11 YEARS

