§ 1258. Child restraint systems; persons under age 18

(a) No person shall operate a motor vehicle, other than a type I school bus, in this State upon a public highway unless every occupant under age 18 is properly restrained in a federally approved child passenger restraining system as defined in 49 C.F.R. § 571.213, as may be amended, or a federally approved safety belt, as follows:

(1) all children under the age of one, and all children weighing less than 20 pounds, regardless of age, shall be restrained in a rear-facing position, properly secured in a federally approved child passenger restraining system, which shall not be installed in front of an active air bag;

(2) a child weighing more than 20 pounds, and who is one year of age or older and under the age of eight years, shall be restrained in a child passenger restraining system; and

(3) a child eight through 17 years of age shall be restrained in a safety belt system or a child passenger restraining system.

(b) A person shall not be adjudicated in violation of this section if:

(1) the motor vehicle is regularly used to transport passengers for hire except a motor vehicle owned or operated by a child care facility;

(2) the motor vehicle was manufactured without safety belts; or

(3) the person has been ordered by an enforcement officer, a firefighter, or an authorized civil authority to evacuate persons from a stricken area.

(c) The penalty for violation of this section shall be as follows:

(1) $25.00 for a first violation;

(2) $50.00 for a second violation;

(3) $100.00 for third and subsequent violations. (Added 1983, No. 96 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; amended 1987, No. 49; 1989, No. 167 (Adj. Sess.); 1993, No. 20, § 1; 1993, No. 119 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 2003, No. 28, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 2004; 2005, No. 174 (Adj. Sess.), § 54; 2005, No. 175 (Adj. Sess.), § 61; 2009, No. 150 (Adj. Sess.), § 6, eff. June 1, 2010; 2015, No. 47, § 28.)