Question Has anyone heard of a TOWN having more stringent CPS laws?

Okay...so my stepdaughter is here, and upset because apparently, her daugther (my grandaughter) got a ticket for riding in a booster, because she is not yet 5???
It was in a town south of here, in Indiana, and the child in question is 42 lbs, 4 years old ( will be 5 at the end of this month, so very nearly 5) and was riding in a backless booster. (Yes, i know, not the best choice at all, but what can I say??? she normally uses a highback, but for the trip used a backless, it was a carpool situation with extended family...moving on from this point...)

so....they stopped for gas at a station in a random town on their way, and got pulled over by a cop, and ticketed for grandaughter being in a backless booster. They fought it, went to court with documentation of her age and weight from ythe doctor, and lost?? Because they said you have to be FIVE to ride in a backless booster????

Umm..I know our state laws, and there isn't a SINGLE word about age in our laws..just that a child must be properly restrained according to man. directions. And while the man. directions might suck, a 4 year old , 42 in a backless booster, does not violate the man. directions at all.....
I might LOVE for their to BE a restriction on backless booster use..wouldn't we all? But the fact is, my state DOES NOT have any laws which state ANYthing about needing to be 5 to ride in a backless booster. i AM CERTAIN.
But, stepdaugther said they lost in court, because the judge said she was too young to be in a backless, because you have to be 5. Stepdaughter says she thinks it is just a local law for their city?? Is this possible? Can local governments pass more stringent CPS laws than the state as a whole? And is it ethical for them to enforce them on visitors just passing through?
i mean, i understand the whole "ignorance of teh law is no excuse" but REALLY? how on earth would you ever know EVERY law...are you supposed to research the local laws of every single town you will pass through on a 4 hour daytrip? that's insane, right?

Anyway...has anyone heard of this, or whatever?

Yes.

States can have more stringent laws than federal unless preempted by a specific fed law. Cities/counties can get even stricter provided there's no federal law blocking the way.

Seat belt stuff is a state issue. No fed law there. So it's quite possible that town/county has a stricter car seat law. Knowing traffic court, I bet that judge just made it up. Legally, it's possible tho.

For example, many cities have higher sales tax rates than the county/state. Or higher minimum wage laws (not quite sure how they got around the fed min wage law but I never looked into it).

I haven't heard of it. I'd appeal it, and ask for a reference to the actual law that was broken. Also, take documentation of what the state law says. But it is possible that the town or county has a stricter law than the rest of the state.

Cities/counties/states that have a higher minimum wage are not bypassing the federal law. If the federal law says you have to pay at least $8/hr, and the county says you have to pay at least $9/hour, they are not incompatible. $9/hr is at least (more than) $8/hour.

Ya,
i mean, i know technically towns can pass their own laws (I pay an extra 1.5 % sales tax in my county...grumble) but i guess i don't see how they can possibly enforce them to ousiders....i mean hey! Everyone needs money right now, so what is stopping a town from making a law saying you can not wear blue shirts, and then just having cops stop cars driving through on the interstate all day long and levying fines to people driving through who have NO CLUE that you aren't allowed to wear blue shirts in that city?
it just seems completely insane to me.
Like I said, how are you supposed to know?

they already did appeal, and the judge told them it is the law. I actually HIGHLY doubt that to be true, i think like Codex said the judge was literally just making stuff up....but i have no way to prove it, and it is already over and done with, and they aren't looking to pursue it, I guess....but it's still crazy.

I, for one, am surprised that they went all the way back to said town to fight the ticket.

But, regardless, you are expected to know the law, and you should uphold it. If someone from TX - which has shitty carseat laws - drove to and through CA, would they be exempt from CA carseat laws? Or seatbelt, or whatever?

What town?

OMGBOYSSSSSS said:

If someone from TX - which has shitty carseat laws - drove to and through CA, would they be exempt from CA carseat laws? Or seatbelt, or whatever?

Click to expand...

Not technically exempt, but not usually ticketed. The same way if I were to cross the border into the U.S. with my Canadian seats, or Europeans bringing their ECE seats to North America on vacation. Technically, we're breaking local laws, but I think most are in agreement it's impractical to expect people traveling through places to have different equipment to comply with each jurisdiction they go through. If it's obvious you're "not from around here" and you're not flagrantly miss-transporting a child (like without any kind of seat) I don't think it's common to be ticketed. :shrug-shoulders:

Seatbelt laws are different, because all cars have them (there are exceptions to that too, but let's not go there )

Yeah, I see what you're saying. I do know that the base has different "laws" and they expect you to follow them. I've heard of people - in TX, this was - being refused entry to the base because they had their 40" tall child (who, per TX law, didn't need to be in a carseat) in a lap only belt. Gate guards told them to go get a booster and come back w/ it. You're also only allowed to talk on the phone if you've got hands free, but this is clearly posted. :shrug-shoulders:

OMGBOYSSSSSS said:

I, for one, am surprised that they went all the way back to said town to fight the ticket.

But, regardless, you are expected to know the law, and you should uphold it. If someone from TX - which has shitty carseat laws - drove to and through CA, would they be exempt from CA carseat laws? Or seatbelt, or whatever?

Click to expand...

Depends on the state. I'm in Indiana and our state law specifically exempts drivers from other states from the child restraint laws. I think there are 9 or so states that do this.

I do understand about the fact that you are expected to know the laws..and for the most part, I get that. but when 1 town in an entire state has a different law, how are you supposed to know??
I mean, I make a 3 hour drive to my parents every month or so, driving through 2 states, at least 6 counties, and probably 15 or more different towns. Before making the trip, am I honestly expected to call up each and every town and county, not to mention the state, to ask if they have any insane laws I should know about? i mean..there has to be a line drawn somewhere, right?

but anyway, that is almost beside the point...the point is, I think they are just making up crap and getting away with it, which is just beyond wrong....not that I woudln't wholeheartedly support a national, state or local law preventing kids under 5 from being in backless boosters.....but i am absolutely against policepeople or judges just randomly making up stuff and enforcing it.......it just chafes.....

What's the name of the town? Should be easy enough to Google it and find out whether the town has additional child restraint laws. :twocents:

i tried, and did not find anything.
It is Rochester Indiana. *shrug*

I found the town's ordinances, but didn't find anything CPS-related. Of course, it's not possible to prove a negative, only a positive.

bobandjess99 said:

i tried, and did not find anything.
It is Rochester Indiana. *shrug*

Click to expand...

I think that somewhere along the line, something is getting misinterpreted - there is nothing in the city code that I can find. Does she have the ticket? It should have the code violation listed on it with the actual code section. I doubt there is a city code, but I could believe that a local PD might have no clue what the law actually means. (eyeroll directed at the local-yokel PD)

No, my stedaughter wasn't driving, it was her husbands sister driving, so she is the one that technically got the ticket and stuff. it happened like a month ago, i guess, and they just got done with the appeal. It came up because for fun, we weighed the girls tonight, and that turned to carseat talk..(lol, of course!!!) and she told me about it. So, i suppose she is getting some of it wrong, or whatever, since it is secondhand,btu she as very clear on teh details about it being because dgd (dear grandaughter) is not 5. I tried to see if maybe they cited her for not being in a properly used restraint, but I can not imagine ho that can be????? At 42 pounds, I don't think there is ANY booster she wouldn't technically, legally be alloed to ride in, is there? And again, stepdaughter said it asn't that,that she had checked the side of the booster before they left to make sure dgd met the requirements, which she did, and that the ticket was because dgd is NOT YET FIVE.
anyay...i guess I'll just move on....clearly something isn'r right..either the sister in law is lying or miscommunicating, or stepdaughter is misunderstanding, or the ton cops ere just plain rong, or whatever...

Seatbelt behind the back, and got a ticket for misuse?