Publication Details

Child restraint legislation enacted in North Carolina

Type: article

Author(s): UNC Highway Safety Research Center,

Url: https://trid.trb.org/View/172189

Publication Date: Jul-1981

Journal: Highway Safety

Volume: 14

Issue: 11

Abstract: North Carolina has joined nearly a dozen states in enacting legislation to protect children in motor vehicles. On July 3, the N.C. Legislature passed a bill requiring parents to restrain their children under two years old while riding in a car. The bill, introduced by Representative George Miller of Durham, was overwhelmingly passed by both the House and the Senate. The law will go into effect July 1, 1982. Violators will be given a warning ticket the first two years. Court costs and a $10.00 fine can be imposed thereafter. The bill specifies the following: All children prior to their second birthday who are traveling with their own parent in a family purpose vehicle will be required to be in an approved child passenger restraint system; Cars used primarily for business purposes and short-term rental cars or ""loaners"" are excluded, but vans, recreation vehicles and pick-ups used primarily for family purposes are included; For infants prior to their first birthday, the restraint system would have to be a child safety seat approved by the North Carolina Commissioner of Motor vehicles; For children between the ages of one and two years, the law will require either an approved child safety seat or a seat belt; The law does not apply unless a child is occupying a seating position where seat belts are required by federal law or regulation, and if all such seating positions are occupied, the child would be excluded; Also, if a child's personal needs are being attended to (such as feeding or diapering), the law does not apply; The law does not apply to vehicles registered in another state or jurisdiction or to ambulances or other emergency vehicles. During the effective dates of the law the UNC Highway Safety Research Center will conduct a statewide study to determine the effectiveness of child restraint systems in preventing deaths and injuries. (Author)