High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Most seat belt legislation in the United States is left to the states. However, the first seat belt law was a federal law which took effect on January 1, 1968 that required all vehicles (except buses) to be fitted with seat belts in all designated seating positions. This law has since been modified to require three-point seat belts in outboard seating positions, and finally three-point seat belts in all seating positions. Initially, seat belt use was not compulsory. New York was the first state to pass a law which required vehicle occupants to wear seat belts, a law that came into effect on December 1, 1984.