First enacted in 1987, Pennsylvania’s seat belt law has helped to protect motorists of all ages. Under the current law, all drivers under the age of 18, and all vehicle occupants between the ages of eight and 18 are required to buckle up, while children under the age of eight must be secured in age-appropriate car seats and booster seats. However, some law enforcement agencies have been misinterpreting this law to mean that it only applies in a very limited set of circumstances where both the driver and the occupants of the vehicle are under 18 and unbuckled at the same time. This is causing confusion amongst our police officers and hampering enforcement of this critical safety law.
 
For this reason, I plan to introduce legislation to clarify the requirements of the seat belt law as they apply to minors so that the law can be correctly enforced. Wearing a seat belt is your best defense against injury or death in the event of a crash. In fact, wearing a seat belt increases your chances of surviving a crash by up to 60 percent. By clarifying this important law, we can make sure that our underage motorists are correctly following the rules of Click It or Ticket.  
 
Please join me in this effort to better protect our underage motorists and provide clarity to our law enforcement agencies.