CHILD RESTRAINT LEGISLATION ENACTED IN NORTH CAROLINA

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)

• Corporate Authors:

  University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

  Highway Safety Research Center
  Chapel Hill, NC  United States  27599
• Publication Date: 1981-7

Media Info

• Pagination: n.p.
• Serial:
  • highway Safety
  • Volume: 14
  • Issue Number: 11
  • Publisher: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Child restraint systems; Crash severity; Infants; Measures of effectiveness; Reduction (Chemistry); State government; Traffic regulations; Utilization
• Uncontrolled Terms: Effectiveness; Traffic laws
• Old TRIS Terms: Reduction
• Subject Areas: Highways; Law; Research; Safety and Human Factors; I83: Accidents and the Human Factor;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00342198
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Dec 22 1981 12:00AM