2.23. While driving outside a populated area, who may not wear seat belts?
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This exam question from the Traffic Rules of Ukraine concerns passive safety and the obligations of road users during trips outside populated areas. The topic is important for safety on highways, as speeds are usually higher outside cities, and the risk of serious injuries in accidents or sudden braking increases significantly. That is why the traffic rules pay special attention to the use of seat belts by both the driver and passengers.
The question tests knowledge of the section on the duties of drivers and passengers (in particular, clause 2.3 (c) of the Traffic Rules of Ukraine, as well as the passenger's obligation to be buckled up if the car is equipped with seat belts). A key detail for the theoretical exam: exceptions regarding the possibility not to use a seat belt are strictly limited to the condition of driving within populated areas. That is, categories often confused by students (drivers/passengers with disabilities due to physiological characteristics and crews of emergency and special vehicles) have exemptions only within populated areas; outside them, this does not apply.
The analysis of options in such tasks comes down to a single criterion: where exactly the movement is taking place. References to disability, emergency vehicles, taxis, or training drives do not give the right to ignore seat belts outside the city, because the Traffic Rules of Ukraine do not provide such exceptions for driving outside populated areas. In practice, the driver is obliged to buckle up themselves and, before starting to drive, ensure that all passengers are also buckled up, regardless of which seat they occupy.
Clause 2.3 (c) (Driver's duties regarding the use of seat belts and passenger control)
Before starting to drive, the driver is obliged to adjust the headrests, fasten the seat belt, and also ensure that the passengers are properly seated in the vehicle, fastened with seat belts, and do not interfere with the driver in operating the vehicle. It is permitted not to fasten seat belts in populated areas — for drivers and passengers with disabilities whose physiological characteristics make it impossible to use seat belts, and for drivers and passengers of emergency and special vehicles.
(Application to the question: the exceptions “it is permitted not to fasten seat belts” are explicitly limited by the condition “in populated areas”, therefore, while driving outside a populated area, these exceptions do not apply.)
Clause 5.2 (Passenger's duties regarding the use of safety devices)
The passenger is obliged: while traveling in a vehicle equipped with seat belts, to be fastened with seat belts.
(Application to the question: passengers are also required to use seat belts if the vehicle is equipped with them.)
Clause 1.10 (the term “Populated area”)
Populated area — a built-up area, the entrances to and exits from which are marked by road signs 5.45, 5.46, 5.47, 5.48.
(Application to the question: to understand where the exception “it is permitted not to fasten seat belts in populated areas” applies, it is necessary to determine the boundaries of the populated area by the corresponding signs.)
Therefore, the correct answer is “Everyone is required to fasten seat belts,” given that according to the Traffic Rules, the exceptions regarding not fastening seat belts are allowed only in populated areas, and outside a populated area, both the driver and passengers must use seat belts.
When driving outside a populated area, the seat belt requirement applies to everyone in the vehicle, if it is equipped with them. The logic of the Traffic Rules is simple: before starting to drive, the driver must fasten their own seat belt and ensure that the passengers are also buckled up, since transporting unbelted passengers is not allowed.
There are indeed exceptions to this rule in the Traffic Rules, but they are specifically tied to driving within populated areas. That is, certain categories (in particular, drivers and passengers with disabilities, if their physiological characteristics do not allow them to use the seat belt, as well as drivers and passengers of emergency and special vehicles) are allowed not to buckle up only within populated areas. When a question specifically states that driving is taking place outside a populated area, these exemptions do not apply.
In practice, this means the following: if you have left the populated area onto a highway or an intercity road—the driver must buckle up, and all passengers in both the front and rear seats must also be buckled up. The driver is additionally responsible for ensuring that the passengers comply with this requirement before starting to drive.
Therefore, the correct answer is "Everyone is required to buckle up," since the exemptions from wearing a seat belt in the Traffic Rules are allowed only within populated areas, and outside a populated area, seat belts must be used by everyone.