Pennsylvania driving lesson · Occupant Safety and Other Laws
Child passenger safety
A 3-minute lesson from the Pennsylvania course. Read the rules and examples, follow the handbook page references, and check your understanding before you move on.
Vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death and injury for children in the United States. Pennsylvania's child restraint law sets the seat a child needs by age, and the driver is responsible for getting it right.
About 7,000
Children under age 5 involved in crashes in Pennsylvania each year
A child under 2 stays rear-facing until outgrowing the maximum weight and height limits set by the car seat's manufacturer. Child safety seats are secured with the seat belt or the vehicle's LATCH system.
Never install a rear-facing child seat in the front seat if an air bag is present: the air bag hits the back of the seat with tremendous force and can severely injure or kill the infant.
You're driving your 5-year-old niece to school. By law she must ride in a federally approved booster seat used with the lap and shoulder belt, whether she sits in front or back.
Check your understanding
Read the question, decide on an answer, then open it to check the explanation. These are Roadwise study questions based on the source handbook.
Children younger than age 2 must ride in what type of car seat?
A forward-facing car seat only
A rear-facing seat until it's outgrown
A booster seat
A regular seat belt is sufficient
Answer: A rear-facing seat until it's outgrown
Children under 2 must be in a rear-facing seat until they exceed the manufacturer's limits.