Child restraint law goes into effect

By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

MELTON

The state’s new child restraint law will go into effect July 1, with violators looking at the possibility of paying expensive tickets.

“I hope we don’t have to ticket too many and that folks will do it on their own, but I’m sure there’ll be some we’ll have to stop and remind,” said McMinnville Police Chief Joe Melton of the new law. “Kids depend on their parents to protect them and properly restraining a child is part of that.”

The law, passed last year, officially takes effect on July 1. A ticket for violating the state law will cost motorists $50 plus court costs, or, within the city, a total of $133.

“Officers pay attention to it right now, making sure children are correctly restrained, so they’ll certainly be looking at the new law when it takes effect,” Melton said.

The following is a breakdown of the new restraint law.

• All children age 12 and under should always ride in the back seat in vehicles that have back seats.

• Any child under 1-year-old, and weighing less than 20 pounds, must be in a rear-facing restraint, in the rear seat, when available. Child must be rear facing until 1-year-old even if the child weighs 20 pounds or more.

• Any child aged 1- through 3-years-old weighing more than 20 pounds should be transported in a forward facing child restraint seat in the rear seat of the vehicle. The rear seat requirements only come into play when the vehicle has a rear seat, meaning a person with a two-seat vehicle will not be ticketed simply for not having a child in a back seat.

• Any child 4- through 8-years-old, measuring less than 5 feet in height must be in a belt positioning booster seat, in the rear seat.

• Children and youths ages 9 through 17 must use a passenger restraint system (seat belt).

The driver of the car is responsible for making sure that children under age 16 are properly restrained and may be charged and fined $50 for each violation of the law.

If the child’s parent or legal guardian is present in the car but not driving, the parent or legal guardian is responsible for making sure that the child is properly transported and may be fined for non-compliance.

There will be some child restraint checkpoints available locally before the law takes effect.

The dates of the checkpoints, which are free to the public, will be listed at a later date.

For more information on the new law call the Tennessee Child Passenger Safety Center at 1-877-267-4528.