From January 1st, 2026, medical exemptions authorising the use of seat belts will cease to be valid in Belgium. Anyone who benefits from an old exemption, issued before March 1st, 2022, and whose state of health still justifies the impossibility of wearing a seatbelt, will have to submit a new application.
An exemption is only valid if it is recognized under the current legal framework. This is a federal decision, meaning it applies everywhere in Belgium: Flanders, Wallonia, and Brussels.
In Belgium, car drivers generally comply with the mandatory seat belt law: 95% always wear their front seat belts, and 86% wear their rear seat belts. However, truck drivers are much more nonchalant… or hard-nosed: 78% say they always wear their seat belts, but 12% say they never do, significantly increasing the chance of dying in an accident.
Safety benefits
Wearing a seat belt remains the rule because it remains the simplest and most effective way to limit serious injuries. Whether it’s the driver or the passengers, every occupant gains safety benefits from correctly wearing the seatbelt. Therefore, the exemption is a rare, strictly regulated one.
Since March 1st, 2022, drivers or car passengers applying for an exemption from wearing a seat belt needed to provide a medical certificate, but it is no longer valid for life. From January 1st, 2026, the derogations already granted will no longer be valid. The drivers or passengers concerned will therefore have to redo the procedure if they wish to keep their exemption after this date.
What is the procedure?
Drivers or passengers who want to keep their exemption must consult a doctor. He is the one who assesses the medical situation and fills out the official certificate. This document forms the essential basis for the application that can be submitted via the FPS Mobility’s Seatbet app.
The process is carried out entirely online, and the administrative cost for a first application, a renewal, or a duplicate is set at 23 euros. The exemption is valid for up to ten years. When the term expires, a new doctor’s certificate is required to extend the exemption.
Who is exempt from wearing a seat belt?
Drivers who are reversing and taxi drivers when carrying a customer are exempt from the mandatory seat belt requirement. Also exempt are drivers or passengers of priority vehicles in particular situations, and people with a valid medical exemption – Belgian or other.
And what about pregnant women?
Contrary to popular belief, pregnant women are still required to wear seat belts. Well positioned, it protects mother and child. The abdominal strap should be placed under the belly and tight across the pelvis. The shoulder belt should be across the shoulder, not on the neck.
The Belgian government made wearing a seat belt in the car mandatory on June 1st, 1975, nearly exactly 50 years ago. Interestingly, only the front occupants were required to wear their seatbelts.
Rear occupants only had to wear seat belts starting in 1991. Today, new cars must be equipped with warning systems to alert passengers who have not fastened their seatbelts.
