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Seat belt and child restraint laws are getting tougher in Indiana beginning July 1, and area police are helping crack down on the lawbreakers.
There are several new laws and variations to the laws that will be enforced after Wednesday.
The first change is the primary seat belt law. This allows law enforcement officers to stop a vehicle if drivers and passengers are not wearing seat belts.
Although Indiana has required seat belt use for more than a decade, police officers could issue a citation only after they stopped the vehicle for another violation. Now, a driver could be stopped and cited only for not wearing a seat belt.
A new child restraint law requires children from birth to age 4 to be restrained in a child safety seat. The current law requires a seat to be used only for children up to age 3.
According to the new law, children ages 4 to 12 must be restrained in a child safety seat or a seat belt regardless of where they are sitting in a passenger vehicle.
A violation of any of these safety restraint measures is a Class D infraction which can carry a fine of up to $25.
A survey from the Warsaw Police Department taken in the two weeks surrounding Memorial Day showed that seat-belt usage was 66.6 percent in Warsaw before the Operation Pullover Blitz. After the effort to raise awareness, seat belt usage in Warsaw rose to 67.4 percent.
These figures are slightly above the average for Indiana.
Another law going into effect Jan. 1 will take aim against young drivers.
The law establishes a probationary licensing system for new drivers. It includes a rule that restricts drivers under age 18 from driving during Indiana's curfew hours. During the probationary driver's first 90 days behind the wheel, he must have a licensed driver who is at least 21 years old in the front seat if there are other passengers in the car. All passengers must be wearing seatbelts.
Also beginning Jan. 1, a driver may receive an operator's license at the age of 18 if he or she does not have a combination of two moving traffic violations or accidents in the 12 months prior to obtaining the license.
