Seat belts, child seats and phone laws in Pennsylvania

By the end of this topic you can

• You can explain who must wear a seat belt in Pennsylvania.
• You can choose the right child seat for a child's age.
• You can describe what Paul Miller's Law bans.
• You can set up your phone so you never need to touch it while driving.

What you need to know and understand

• The driver and front-seat passengers must wear seat belts.
• Everyone aged 8 to 17 must be belted in any seat, and a driver under 18 must buckle up.
• Children under 2 ride rear-facing; under 4 in a child safety seat; 4 to 7 in a booster seat.
• Drivers under 18 may not carry more passengers than seat belts.
• Paul Miller's Law bans holding or supporting a phone while driving, including at red lights.
• Texting while driving is banned for all drivers, with a $50 fine.

Buckling up

All drivers and front-seat passengers must wear a seat belt. Passengers aged 8 to 17 must be belted wherever they sit, and the driver is responsible for making sure they are. For drivers under 18, failing to belt up is a primary offense, so police can stop you for that alone. For adults in the front, it is a secondary offense, enforced only alongside another violation. Fines are small, but the real cost is your safety: the manual notes a crash at 30 mph is like falling from a three-story building.

Children in the car

Breaking the child seat rules carries a $75 fine.

• Under 2: rear-facing car seat until the child outgrows the seat maker's limits.
• Under 4: a federally approved child safety seat, anywhere in the vehicle.
• Ages 4 to 7: a booster seat used with a lap and shoulder belt.
• Ages 8 to 17: a seat belt in every seating position.
• Never place a rear-facing seat in front of an active air bag. Children 12 and under are safest in the back.

Paul Miller's Law and the texting ban

Paul Miller's Law took effect on June 5, 2025, with a 12-month warning period. Since that warning period ended in June 2026, drivers can be fined $50. You are using a device illegally if you hold it in your hand or support it with any part of your body, dial or answer by pressing more than one button, or reach for it in a way that takes you out of your normal seated, belted position. The rule applies while you are stopped in traffic or at a light. You may use a device after you pull safely off the road and stop, or to contact police or emergency services to prevent injury.

Separately, sending, reading or writing a text while the car is moving has been banned since 2012, with a $50 fine. Our hands-free law guide covers more examples.

Other distractions

Eating, adjusting music, chatting with passengers and looking at crashes all pull your eyes and mind off the road. Set navigation and music before you move off, put your phone out of reach or in a mount, and let passengers handle messages.

Common mistakes

• Checking a message while waiting at a red light. The handheld ban still applies.
• Letting a 10-year-old ride without a belt in the back. Everyone 8 to 17 must be belted in any seat.
• Moving a 6-year-old out of a booster seat early.
• Holding the phone on speaker against your shoulder. Supporting it with your body counts as use.

Test yourself: Seat belts, child seats and phone laws in Pennsylvania

Answer each question, then read the explanation. Questions come in a random order each time.

Go deeper

• PA Hands-Free Law
• Pennsylvania Permit Practice Test
• Pennsylvania Move Over Law and Steer Clear Rules Explained