This holiday season, the Pennsylvania State Police is doing Operation Safe Holiday to enforce seat belt and drunk driving laws. In Pennsylvania, you can receive a ticket if you don’t wear a seat belt or fail to ensure that your underage passengers are properly restrained. The Basics In Pennsylvania, all front-seat passengers must wear a seat belt.  Rear-seat passengers over the age of 18 are not required to wear a seat belt.  Just...

WPXI reports that 60 Pittsburgh-area drivers received traffic citations for improper use of the carpool/high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane on the Parkway North.  Under the law, the HOV lane may only be used by motorcycle operators and cars that are carrying at least two human passengers inbound from 6:00 AM to 10:00 AM and outbound from 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM.  There are no exceptions for fuel-efficient vehicles.   For more information, go to:...

The Pennsylvania General Assembly has passed a law prohibiting drivers from sending text messages or otherwise composing written messages (email, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) while driving.  The prohibition does not include devices used “exclusively” for the purpose of navigation or the act of dialing a phone number while driving.   Drivers caught texting while driving will face a $50 fine. While earlier drafts of the law made the...

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives has passed legislation amending the state’s seatbelt laws. Under the current laws, the failure to properly restrain a child between the ages of four and eight is a secondary offense. Therefore, a person may only be convicted if s/he has been convicted of another traffic violation or crime. Under the proposed law, the failure to properly restrain a child between the ages of four and eight will be a...

In addition to passing restrictions on junior drivers, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed legislation that amends Sections 4527 and 4581(a) and (b) of the Vehicle Code. The proposed legislation prohibits vehicles from having any DVD player, television, or any image display device in a position that the driver can view (with the exception of navigation systems, “related traffic, road and weather information,” and...

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives has passed legislation prohibiting teenagers from using cellular phones or sending text messages while operating an automobile. The law also includes a provision restricting the number of passengers the teenager may have who are under the age of 18. Under the law, any junior driver would only be permitted to have one passenger who is under the age of 18. The bill will now go to the Pennsylvania Senate...