Section 392.16 requires the driver of a CMV equipped with a seat belt assembly to use that assembly while the vehicle is in motion. The violation is driver-assigned and one of the most-cited under the Unsafe Driving BASIC.
Why this matters
Beyond the safety reasons, seat belt violations:
- Show up in your CSA Unsafe Driving percentile at severity weight 7 (out of 10).
- Are one of the items roadside inspectors check on every Level III walk-around inspection.
- Often correlate with a deeper culture issue — fleets with frequent §392.16 violations frequently have other Unsafe Driving findings.
How to prevent it
- Coach drivers explicitly: every time the truck is moving, the belt is on.
- For solo owner-operators: build the muscle memory. Belt before the parking brake comes off.
- Document your safety policy and supervisor follow-up. After an audit, the auditor wants to see the corrective action — not just the violation.
How Roadworthy HQ helps
A seat-belt citation lands on the driver. Roadworthy HQ does not record individual violation codes, pull CSA or SMS scores, or track coaching. What it keeps is the driver file an auditor opens next: the annual MVR and the §391.25 annual review, each with reminders 60, 30, and 7 days out, and the qualification-file documents with their retention periods enforced. If the citation came from a roadside inspection, log that inspection on the vehicle (date, state, level, driver, number of violations, out-of-service or not).