COATESVILLE — As part of National Child Passenger Safety Awareness Week, which runs from September 18 through 24, the City of Coatesville Police Department, Buckle Up PA, and the PA Traffic Injury Prevention Project announced this week they will partner in an enforcement mobilization to help reduce child injuries and fatalities.
The mobilization will take place from September 18 through 30, 2016, and will also highlight National Seat Check Saturday on September 24.
Vehicle crashes continue to be the leading cause of death for children. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration every 33 seconds, one child under 13 is involved in a crash. On average in 2014, nearly two children under 13 years old were killed and 308 were injured every day as passengers in car crashes. These crashes are a leading cause of death for children in the United States.
Motorists are reminded that 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 ages 4 to 8 must be restrained in an appropriate booster seat. A new law that went into effect August 2016 requires a child under 2 years of age be securely fastened in a rear-facing child passenger restraint system, which is to be used until the child outgrows the maximum weight and limits designated by the manufacturer. In addition, children ages 8 to 18 must be wearing a seat belt when riding anywhere in the vehicle. Also, drivers and front-seat passengers 18 years-old or older are required to buckle up. If motorists are stopped for a traffic violation and are not wearing their seat belt, they can receive a second ticket and second fine.
The City of Coatesville Police Department will join other departments and highway safety partners across the state to provide child passenger safety information, presentations, provide fitting stations and, if necessary, write citations. Police will also use 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.
For more information on seat belt safety, visit www.penndot.gov/safety or call Sergeant Rodger Ollis of the City of Coatesville Police Department at (610) 384-2300 X3243.
