VTL 1229-cNot TBWD eligibleSeat belt
Seat belt required
Driver or passenger failure to wear a safety belt.
Vehicle & Traffic Law 1229-c — statutory text
Official source ↗3. No person shall operate a motor vehicle unless such person is restrained by a safety belt approved by the commissioner. No other front seat passenger and no back seat passenger aged sixteen or older shall ride in the front seat or the back seat of any such motor vehicle unless such passenger is restrained by a safety belt approved by the commissioner.
Quoted from the California Legislative Information website. The full section may contain additional subdivisions not reproduced here — click “Official source” for the complete text as currently in force.
Base fine
$50.00
Does not include court fees or assessments.
DMV points
3
Points raise your insurance.
Filing window
N/A
TBWD not available.
Not eligible for TBWD
New York does not currently offer a Trial by Written Declaration process. NY TVB requires a hearing; mail-in plea is limited to guilty admissions only. We won’t charge you for an ineligible filing.
Defenses our AI considers (15)
- Equipment fixed — correctable violationhistorical success ~80%Equipment violations (window tint, exhaust, lights, plates, wipers, etc.) are correctable in every supported state. Proof of repair signed by a qualified inspector resolves the citation administratively.
- Documentary cure — proof on date of citationhistorical success ~75%Many "failure to produce" charges (insurance, registration, license) are dismissed on proof the document existed and was valid on the date of citation. This is codified in most state fix-it / correctable-violation statutes.
- Supporting deposition not timely served (NY CPL § 100.25)historical success ~60%N.Y. CPL § 100.25(2) entitles a defendant in a traffic matter outside NYC TVB to a supporting deposition containing non-hearsay allegations establishing every element. Failure to provide it within 30 days of a timely request is a jurisdictional defect requiring dismissal.
- Sign obscured, missing, or recently changedhistorical success ~50%A driver cannot be held to a regulation that was not reasonably communicated. An obscured, damaged, missing, or recently-changed sign at the cited location is both a mistake-of-fact defense and a due-process notice defect.
Our AI drafts 3 options per case, tailored to your ticket's facts. You choose or regenerate.