Except for New Hampshire, all states and the District of Columbia require adult front-seat occupants of motor vehicles to use seat belts. Adult rear-seat passengers are also covered by the laws in 31 states and the District of Columbia. Children are covered by separate laws.

State seat belt laws are divided into two categories: primary and secondary. Primary seat belt laws allow law enforcement officers to stop a motor vehicle and to issue a ticket or citation to a driver or passenger for not wearing a seat belt without any other traffic offense having occurred. Secondary seat belt laws only allow law enforcement officers to issue a ticket or citation for not wearing a seat belt when there has been another traffic offense by an occupant of the vehicle for which the occupant may be issued a ticket or citation.

In Indiana, seat belt use is mandated by law for drivers and all passengers. Indiana's seat belt law is a primary enforcement law, which means that law enforcement officers can stop a vehicle and issue a citation to the driver if they observe a seat belt violation, without needing to have any other reason for the traffic stop. This applies to all front-seat occupants. For rear-seat passengers, Indiana's law requires that passengers under the age of 16 must wear a seat belt or be properly restrained in a child restraint system. However, for adult rear-seat passengers, Indiana does not currently require the use of seat belts, making it one of the states that does not cover all rear-seat occupants. Additionally, Indiana has specific child restraint laws that require children to be in an appropriate child restraint system based on their age, weight, and height.