"Buckle Up for Life"
INDIANA, PA – In an effort to increase seatbelt usage among drivers and children and to reduce the number of injuries and fatalities in motor vehicle crashes, PENNDOT Engineering District 10 is promoting Child Passenger Safety Week February 12 –18, 2006.
Child Passenger Safety Week is an important time to emphasize that all family members need to be properly buckled up. The theme for this year is "Buckle Up for Life." During this week, local, State Police and PennDOT will be educating parents about child passenger safety laws and will use “Click It or Ticket” as part of a Statewide educational and enforcement campaign to increase seatbelt usage among children and adults.
Know the laws:
- All children age 12 and under should ride in the back seat, properly buckled.
- Infants under one year of age, weighing less than 20 pounds, should ride in the back seat facing the rear of the vehicle, in a semi-reclined position in an approved, properly installed car seat. The reason for reclining the seat is that infants are not able to hold up their own heads. If the seat is not properly reclined at a 45-degree angle, the child's chin could rest on their chest and inhibit breathing.
- Infants in rear facing child seats should never ride in the front seat of a vehicle with a passenger side airbag. If the front seat is the only seat available, as in a small truck, the airbag should be turned off.
- Toddlers age one or older, weighing more than 20 pounds should be placed facing forward in an upright position in an approved, properly installed car seat.
- Always make sure the harness straps are properly fitted on the child and the child seat is properly secured to keep it from moving in any direction.
- Effective February 21, 2003, children age 4 to 8 are required to be restrained in a booster seat at all times.
- In addition, children age 8 through 17 are required to buckle-up when riding anywhere in a vehicle. Previously, seat belt laws applied only to front seat passengers.
Pennsylvania has a secondary seatbelt law that requires an officer to issue a citation for a primary traffic violation before issuing the citation for not wearing a seatbelt. The fines and costs could amount to more than $100.
Please keep in mind that children are likely to be buckled up 92 percent of the time when adults are also buckled up and only 72 percent of the time when adults are not buckled.
For more information on child passenger safety call the Traffic Injury Prevention Project at 1-800 CAR BELT.
The State Police are offering free child car seat safety checks at the following locations:
Indiana County:
- Indiana State Police barracks located along Route 286 West, just past Walmart:
2 to 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, February 12, 2006
3 to 5:30 p.m. on Monday, February 13, 2006
3 to 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 14, 2006
4 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, February 15, 2006
12 to 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 16, 2006
Butler County:
- Baglier Buick-GMC-Mazda automotive dealership,248 Pittsburgh Road (State Route 8), Butler Township, Butler County, PA: 4 to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, February 14, 2006
Jefferson County:
- Seidle Chevrolet, 1294 East Main Street, Clarion, PA:4 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, February 14, 2006
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