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Safety Restraint
Technician
 Beginning July 1, children
through age 14 must
be
restrained when riding in motor vehicles in Alabama, under provisions
of the
state’s new child restraint law. The new law applies to passenger cars,
pickup
trucks, vans (with seating capacity of 10 or fewer), minivans and sport
utility
vehicles.
The child restraint law,
§32-5-222, was amended during the
2006 regular session of the Alabama Legislature to specify appropriate
restraint systems by child age and weight. The new law also provides
that
violators will have points assessed against their driver record, in
addition to
incurring a fine of $25.
The law requires the following size-appropriate
restraint
systems:
- Infant-only seats
and convertible seats used in the
rear-facing position for infants until at least 1 year of age or 20
pounds
- Convertible seats in
the forward position or forward-facing
seats until the child is at least 5 years of age or 40 pounds.
- Booster seats until
the child is 6 years of age.
- Seat belts until the
child is 15 years of age. Alabama’s
seat belt law, §32-5B-4, requires that all front-seat occupants,
regardless of
age, be restrained. Alabama’s old child restraint law required an
“appropriate
child restraint system” for children age 5 and younger riding in motor
vehicles
registered in Alabama, with seat belts allowed beginning at age 4. The
old law
also excluded trucks and buses with a tonnage rating of one ton or
more.
Safety
restraint check ups are available at the
University Police Department. This service was designed to provide
parents and
caregivers with general information about the appropriate use of a
child
restraint system. If you are interested in more information,
please contact Sergeant Carl Preuninger at 256-782-5709 or by e-mail at
preuninger@jsu.edu.
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