Moon Police Urge Student Drivers to Buckle Up

 hope to send a message to student drivers at : Buckle up or risk being ticketed.

Police will reach out to high school students next week about Pennsylvania's recently instated Act 81, or Lacey's Law, which makes driving without a seatbelt a primary offense for motorists and passengers younger than 18.

Officers now may stop vehicles if they believe teen drivers or their passenger aren't buckled up. The offense carries a $75 fine.

The law, which went into effect in December, is named after Lacey Gallagher, a Philadelphia teen who was killed in a 2007 car crash. Neither Gallagher nor her six passengers, each of whom was injured in the crash, were wearing seatbelts. 

"In most of the [car crash] fatalities that occur in Moon Township, the driver is unrestrained," Moon Police Chief Leo McCarthy said. "There's always the occasional exception to this, but it's been my experience seeing dozens and dozens of traffic fatalities that disproportionately the drivers are not wearing seatbelts." 

Under Lacey's Law: 

• Passengers younger than 4 must ride in a properly secured safety seat, and children ages 4 to 8 must ride in booster seats. 
• All passengers in a vehicle ages 8 to 18 must wear a seatbelt. Officers may stop a vehicle if they spot young, unrestrained passengers.
• The law requires adults older than 18 to wear seatbelts while sitting in the front of a vehicle. This seconary offense carries a $10 fine. 
• Click the media in this article for a PDF that details the new law. 

Prior to Lacey's law, officers could only cite teen drivers for failure to wear a seatbelt if they had been pulled over for another offense, such as speeding.

"Until recently we could pull someone over if they had a person in the car younger than 4 who was unrestrained," he said. "For everyone else, they would have to be pulled over for another reason." 

Still the new law could be prove difficult for officers to enforce, McCarthy said. 

"It's a step in the right direction," McCarthy said. "In other states they say everyone has to wear seatbelts, but here it's difficult. How can an officer tell if someone is under the age of 18?"

McCarthy said on Monday he will conduct an informal survey at the Moon Area High School campus to gauge how area teen drivers use seatbelts. On Tuesday, officers will be present at the school to hand out literature to students on seatbelt safety. 

McCarthy said the effort is funded through a $1,500 state grant. 

"We're not going to be citing them or arresting them," he said. "We're just going to be there to educate them." 

On Wednesday officers will be doing additional patrols in the area to spot seatbelt violations. 

"The law is really complex here in Pennsylvania," McCarthy said. "It's really important to wear your seatbelts."