Motor Vehicles (Wearing of Seat Belts) Regulations, 2003

L.N. 252 of 2003

MALTA TRANSPORT AUTHORITY ACT

(CAP. 332)

TRAFFIC REGULATION ORDINANCE

(CAP. 65)

Motor Vehicles (Wearing of Seat Belts) Regulations, 2003

IN exercise of the powers conferred by article 27 of the Malta

Transport Authority Act, and by article 54 of the Traffic Regulation

Ordinance, the Minister for Transport and Communications, after

consultation with the Malta Transport Authority, has made the following

regulations>–

Part I

PRELIMINARY

(1) The title of these regulations is the Motor Vehicles Title and

commencement.

(Wearing of Seat Belts) Regulations, 2003.

(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 regulation<

(b) regulations 7 to 12 on the 1 st January 2004< and

(c) regulations 5 and 6 on the 1 st June 2004.

In these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires>-

Interpretation.

“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 to these regulations 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

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

Every driver on the public highway shall wear a seat belt when Wearing of seat

belts by drivers.

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.

Every adult, travelling as a front seat passenger on the public Wearing of seat

highway, shall wear a seat belt when using any of the following belts

seat by adult

categories of vehicles, provided that the occupied seats are fitted with passengers.

such equipment>

(a)

Passenger cars<

(b) M2 vehicles< and

(c)

Light goods vehicles.

Every adult, travelling as a rear seat passenger on the public Wearing of seat

highway shall wear a seat belt when using a passenger car, provided belts

by adult passengers.

that the occupied seats are fitted with such equipment.

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

(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 to these regulations.

(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.

(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 to

these regulations 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 to these regulations, when using

any of the following category of vehicles>

(i) M2 vehicles, and

(ii) Light goods vehicles.

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 to these regulations and only after that occupy other seats not

equipped with such restraint systems.

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.

The Chairman may specify by notice in the Gazette the year

of production of such motor vehicles that shall be fitted with seat belts.

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.

No person shall have a seat belt removed from a vehicle that Prohibition of

removal of seat

has been manufactured with such a device fitted as a standard feature. belts.

Part IV

EXEMPTIONS

The provisions of these regulations shall not apply to any Exemptions.

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) above< or

(d) in possession of a certification of medical exemption as

provided in the Second Schedule to these regulations< 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

Whenever an offence against the provisions of these Criminal liability.

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) above 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.

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.

The Wearing of Seat Belts in Motor Vehicles Regulations,

1995. 1995, are hereby repealed.

B

Mitbug[ fl-Istamperija tal-Gvern — Printed at the Government Printing Press