Child Restraint Law

According to Indiana law, all drivers must ensure that all child passengers in pickup trucks use seat belts. You need to have a clear understanding of Indiana child seat belt laws if you are driving your pickup truck in Indiana. You also need to understand how the laws apply and the consequences of breaking them.

Indiana Child Restraint Law
In 2005, Indiana enacted the Child Restraint Law, which requires children to be restrained when riding in a pickup truck. Some of the restraints to be used on a child in a pickup truck include belted booster seats and shoulder belts fitted inside trucks. You can find these parts on stores that deal with Lkq universal truck parts. The law stipulates that all children between 8 years and 16 years must wear seat belts when driven in pickup trucks. Children who fall under the age of eight are required to ride in federally approved car seats or booster seats.

Pickup truck owners in Indiana are advised to use car seats that are appropriate to children’s heights and weights. Infants must ride facing behind in a pickup truck until they weigh at least 20 pounds or at least 1 year old. Indiana Child Restraint Law states that a child’s car seat must be installed and used according to the makers’ instructions.

Violations
Anyone who is found with a child not restrained properly by either a booster seat or a shoulder seat belt in his/her pickup truck will be required to pay a $25 fine for the first transgression. People who violate the Indiana Child Seat Belt law for the first time may see their fines waived by the court if they bring a child safety seat or booster to court. They must also prove to the court that they are making necessary arrangements to install child safety restraints in their pickup trucks. Money collected in form of fines from the violations is channeled into a fund to procure booster seats and child seat restraints for poor families in Indiana.

Exceptions
It is important to know that there are exceptions to how the Indiana Child Seat Belt and Restraint Law apply. For Instance, children who are heavier than 40 lbs can ride without seat belts if they are carried by their parents or caregivers. However, this exception does not include children below 8 years who require booster seats.