Understand the Charge

Section 106 of the Highway Traffic Act covers the possible seat belt violations and Regulation 613 covers seat belt assemblies.

Step 3 explains how to look at the essential elements of the charge and the legislation. This will help you prepare your defence. For example, if you take your seat belt off to parallel park, you are not committing an offence. S. 106 (6a) provides an exemption for driving in reverse.

You should also research the case law on seat belts. The key case law decisions are:

• R. v. Kanda, 2008
• R. v. Gupta, 2008
• York v. Tassone, 2007