PRINTER'S NO. 2127
No. 1712 Session of 2001
INTRODUCED BY SCRIMENTI, BEBKO-JONES, CALTAGIRONE, CAPPELLI,
CRUZ, DALEY, GRUCELA, HORSEY, MANN, PALLONE, WALKO,
WASHINGTON, C. WILLIAMS, J. WILLIAMS AND YOUNGBLOOD,
JUNE 11, 2001
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION, JUNE 11, 2001
AN ACT
1 Amending Title 75 (Vehicles) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
2 Statutes, further providing for restraint systems.
3 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
4 hereby enacts as follows:
5 Section 1. Section 4581(a) and (d) of Title 75 of the
6 Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes are amended to read:
7 § 4581. Restraint systems.
8 (a) Occupant protection.--
9 (1) Any person who is operating a passenger car, Class I
10 truck, Class II truck, classic motor vehicle, antique motor
11 vehicle or motor home and who transports a child under [four]
12 five years of age [anywhere] or weighing less than 60 pounds
13 in the motor vehicle[, including the cargo area,] shall
14 fasten such child securely in a child passenger restraint
15 system, as defined in subsection (d). This subsection shall
16 apply to all persons while they are operators of motor
17 vehicles where a seating position is available which is
1 equipped with a seat safety belt or other means to secure the
2 systems or where the seating position was originally equipped
3 with seat safety belts.
4 (2) Except for children under [four] five years of age
5 or weighing less than 60 pounds and except as provided in
6 paragraph (1), each driver and front seat occupant of a
7 passenger car, Class I truck, Class II truck or motor home
8 operated in this Commonwealth shall wear a properly adjusted
9 and fastened safety seat belt system. A conviction under this
10 paragraph by State or local law enforcement agencies shall
11 occur only as a secondary action when a driver of a motor
12 vehicle has been convicted of any other provision of this
13 title. The driver of a passenger automobile shall secure or
14 cause to be secured in a properly adjusted and fastened
15 safety seat belt system any occupant in the front seat who is
16 [four] five years of age or older and less than 18 years of
17 age and weighs at least 60 pounds. This paragraph shall not
18 apply to:
19 (i) A driver or front seat occupant of any vehicle
20 manufactured before July 1, 1966.
21 (ii) A driver or front seat occupant who possesses a
22 written verification from a physician that he is unable
23 to wear a safety seat belt system for physical or medical
24 reasons, or from a psychiatrist or other specialist
25 qualified to make an informed judgment that he is unable
26 to wear a safety seat belt system for psychological
27 reasons.
28 (iii) A rural letter carrier while operating any
29 motor vehicle during the performance of his duties as a
30 United States postal service rural letter carrier only
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1 between the first and last delivery points.
2 (iv) A driver who makes frequent stops and is
3 traveling less than 15 miles per hour for the purpose of
4 delivering goods or services while in the performance of
5 his duties and only between the first and last delivery
6 points.
7 A violation of this paragraph shall not be subject to the
8 assessment of any points under section 1535 (relating to
9 schedule of convictions and points).
10 (3) A driver who is under 18 years of age may not
11 operate a motor vehicle in which the number of passengers
12 exceeds the number of available safety seat belts in the
13 vehicle.
14 * * *
15 (d) Standards.--A child passenger restraint system shall be
16 used as designated by the manufacturer of the system in motor
17 vehicles equipped with seat safety belts and shall meet the
18 Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (49 C.F.R. § 571.213).
19 Unless there is no rear seat, the child passenger restraint
20 system shall be placed in a rear seat.
21 * * *
22 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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