Car Seat Enforcement Effort Planned In Newtown Township

NEWTOWN, PA — Newtown Township Police is participating in an enforcement mobilization for National Child Passenger Safety Awareness Week, which runs from Sept. 23 to 29. Local police will be partnering with Buckle Up PA, and the PA Traffic Injury Prevention Project in the enforcement mobilization to help reduce child injuries and fatalities.

The effort will be focused on providing child passenger safety information and, if necessary, writing citations, according to police. The enforcement mobilization includes the use of Traffic Enforcement Zones, which combine enforcement patrol and checkpoint tactics on roadways with high numbers of unbuckled crashes. Citations will be issued to motorists who are caught transporting unrestrained children.

As a reminder, Pennsylvania’s primary seat-belt law requires drivers and passengers under 18 years old to buckle up, and children under the age of 4 must be properly restrained in an approved child safety seat. Children under 2 must be rear-facing.

Children ages 4 to 8 must be restrained in an appropriate booster seat, and children ages 8 to 18 must be wearing a seat belt when riding anywhere in the vehicle.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of death for children. Every 33 seconds, a child under the age of 13 is involved in a crash.

In 2016, 826 children were killed in passenger vehicle crashes. Based upon known usage, 38 percent of those child occupants were unrestrained, according to information from police. Child safety seats have been shown to reduce fatal injury by 71 percent for infants and by 54 percent for toddlers.

For more information on seat belt safety, visit www.penndot.gov/safety or call the Newtown Township Police Department Directly: Corporal Keegan 215-579-1000 Ext 236.

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