Motor vehicle drivers who fail to ensure that children in their vehicle are properly secured in a seat belt or child car seat could be charged and face a fine of $90.00 and two demerit points (plus a $20.00 victim surcharge), and risk injury to the child.

Passengers who are 16 years of age and older are responsible for buckling themselves up. If stopped by a police officer, passengers aged 16 and older must provide their name, address and date of birth to the officer. They can face a fine of $90 for not using or wearing their seat belt properly.

Child passengers who sit in the back seat, particularly in the middle of the back seat, are less likely to be injured during a motor vehicle collision. An exception is if the back seat is the auxiliary seat of a light-duty truck, then the child should sit in the front, but only if there is not an active airbag.

Children who have outgrown their child car seat have not developed the physical characteristics and size for adult seat belts to be fully effective. They must use a booster seat.

Booster seats are required for children under the age of eight, weighing 18 kg or more but less than 36 kg (40-80 lbs) and who stand less than 145 cm (4 feet 9 inches) tall.

A child can start using a seatbelt alone once any one of the following criteria is met:

* Child turns eight years old
* Child weighs 36 kg (80 lb.)
* Child is 145 cm (4 feet 9 inches) tall

Infants under 9 kg (20 lb.) must be secured in a rear-facing infant car seat. Toddlers 9-18 kg (20 - 40 lb.) who are about a year old and can also pull themselves unassisted to a standing position should travel in a forward-facing child car seat secured by both a seat belt and a tether strap, attached to an anchor bolted into the vehicle's frame.

Your local public health unit will be able to provide you with information on child passenger safety as well as inform you about upcoming child car seat inspection clinics. Public health units have trained personnel who can provide workshops or information about child car seats, or hold child car seat inspection clinics.

source : mto.gov.on.ca/english/safety/seatbelt.htm

As an avid motorcyclist myself, and as the Secretary of the agency charged with road safety, I'm deeply concerned that the pastime I love has such a troubling safety record. Yearly increases in motorcycle fatalities and injuries have plagued the nation for nearly a decade. Yet we've seen a rise in the use of so-called "novelty" helmets, which aren't safety-test or certified, and which do little to protect riders during an accident.

I'm a rider and I've been in a crash where I laid down my bike on the blacktop and my helmet took the impact of the crash. The safety-tested and certified helmet I was wearing, which is battered and bruised and will never be used again, sits in my office as a reminder that it could have been my head that suffered those blows.

The simple lesson is this: If you're a rider like me, you've got to take responsibility for wearing the right gear, including a DOT certified helmet, so you don't end up as a brain injury patient.
That's why today, we're proposing new safety rules to make it harder for vendors to sell unsafe novelty helmets or for riders to get away with wearing them. Our ultimate goal is to make it easier for riders to know in advance whether the helmet they buy will keep them safe.

We are proposing to do that by requiring manufacturers to place a larger, tamper-proof DOT label on the back of certified helmets that have been through a range of safety tests. That's because we've seen many cases of people putting fake DOT stickers on novelty helmets that don't pass muster on safety. Trust me, I've seen the cross section of one of these novelty helmets and you don't want to be relying on one to protect you in an accident.

Importantly, our proposal would also strengthen the tests helmets must go through to receive DOT certification, including updated tests on how the helmets hold up during impact, whether objects can penetrate the helmet and how well the helmet stays in place during a crash.There's a good reason for the safety changes we're proposing today.In fact, fatalities have more than doubled since 1997 - increasing by 144 percent. Motorcycles account for about 3 percent of the vehicles on the road, but they represent 13 percent of all crashes. Yet new data indicate that nearly one in five motorcycle riders in states with helmet laws wear a non-compliant helmet.Ultimately, safety begins with the riders themselves. Riders must do more to protect themselves by taking personal responsibility for their own safety, including wearing a DOT certified helmet.

You know, the good news is that more Americans than ever are experiencing the freedom of the open road through motorcycling. It's a great feeling to gear up for what might be a quick commute or a longer pleasure ride, to feel the wind in your face and see the blacktop stretching into the distance before you. That's why I love it and that's why I ride. So to all those riders who love it as much as I do, I say gear up and ride safe.

For more information: http://fastlane.dot.gov