I have been getting some phone calls in reference to car seats and when can their children not be required to be in one. The state law says that a child six (6) years of age and who weighs less than sixty pounds (60 lbs.) shall be restrained in a child passenger safety seat properly secured to the vehicle. Some parents tell me that their child weighs more than the sixty pounds but is under six years of age. A lot has do with the child and how the vehicle factory seatbelts fit the child. If the factory seatbelts do not fit the child properly, injury can happen. There are booster seats available that work with your vehicle seatbelts to protect your children. If your child is at least 6 years old or 60 pounds then your vehicle safety belts will be sufficient. If your child meets the 6 or 60, and you are not sure if your vehicle safety belts fit your child feel free to get in contact with me by calling City Hall or come by to see if I am working.
Another issue that seems to becoming more frequent is smoking in your vehicle with children. Act 13 of 2006 amends the child passenger safety Code Annotated 27-34-104. The following are a summary of Act 13 of 2006 and Arkansas Code Annotated 27-34-104. Summary of Act 13 of 2006
The Arkansas Protection from Secondhand Smoke for Children
Prepared by the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement, April 2006
Act 13 of 2006 amends a section of existing law that requires children who are under the age of 6 and weigh less than 60 pounds to ride in a “safety seat properly secured to the vehicle,” according to Arkansas Code Annotated 27-34-104. Violation of this law may result in a fine between $25 and $100.
The Act bans smoking in all motor vehicles carrying children who are restrained in safety seats as described in Arkansas Code Annotated 27-34-104. The Act authorizes a $25 fine per violation. Fines may be waived if drivers prove they have entered a smoking cessation program.
Violation of Act 13 is classified as a “primary offense,” meaning police may stop and cite an adult motorist for smoking in a vehicle carrying a child in a safety seat.
State Statues
27-34-104. Child Passenger Safety Requirements.(a) Every driver who transports a child under fifteen (15) years of age in a passenger automobile, van, or pickup truck, other than one (1) operated for hire, which is registered in this or any other state, shall provide while the motor vehicle is in motion and operated on a public road, street, or highway of this state for the protection of the child by properly placing, maintaining, and securing the child in a child passenger restraint system properly secured to the vehicle and meeting applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards in effect on January 1, 1995. (b) A child who is less than six (6) years of age and who weighs less than sixty pounds (60 lbs.) shall be restrained in a child passenger safety seat properly secured to the vehicle. (c) If a child is at least six (6) years of age or at least sixty pounds (60 lbs.) in weight, a safety belt properly secured to the vehicle shall be sufficient to meet the requirements of this section.
27-34-103. Penalty. (a) Any person who violates this chapter shall, upon conviction, be fined not less than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) or more than one hundred dollars ($100). (b) In determining the amount of fine to be assessed under this section, any court hearing the matter shall consider whether, if the offense is for failure to secure the child in a child passenger safety seat properly secured to the vehicle, the child was restrained by some alternative means such as seat safety belts properly secured to the vehicle. (c) Upon satisfactory proof being presented to the court that the defendant has acquired, purchased, or rented an approved child passenger safety seat as described in § 27-34-104, the court shall assess no more than the minimum fine allowed.
Heber Springs, Ark. —
