Local and state law officials say new traffic laws, which went into effect about a month ago, still are a bit confusing for both themselves and for drivers.

The new booster seat law is giving law enforcement officials the biggest problem. The law states that any child under eight years of age must be secured in an “appropriate restraint system.” The law also states that if a vehicle is equipped with lap belts in the back seat and the child is more than 40 pounds, then the child can be secured with a lap belt. If the vehicle has a combination lap and shoulder belt in the back seat, then the child must be secured in a booster seat.

The law seems odd because of the way legislation is written, DeKalb County Sgt. Gary Dumdie said.

When officers have to take into account weight and age, it can be confusing at first, Dumdie said. Officers usually don’t carry around a scale, so enforcing it can be difficult at times, he said.

A lot of laws take time to get used to, DeKalb Police Lt. Carl Leoni said.

“If you’re driving down the street and you see some kid hopping around the back seat of the car … that’s easy,” Leoni said.

The previous car seat law was easier to enforce, but not necessarily better, Leoni added.

Under the previous law, weight was not taken into account, and only children under age six were required to be secured in child seats.

Some community members also are experiencing confusion with the laws.

University Police Lt. Deborah Pettit said she has had faculty members with young children call her to clarify the law.

“There is confusion in the beginning,” Pettit said. “There is probably some question as to what is appropriate.”

Another recently passed law, which has been easier for officers, is one concerning new teen drivers.

The law says that anyone under the age of 18, who gets his or her driver’s license, is not allowed to have more than one person under the age of 20 in the car for six months. Siblings and kin are exceptions to the rule.

It requires police to have to guess at the age of the drivers, but many laws, such as ones involving alcohol, are like that, Pettit said.

Leoni agreed, adding that as a father, he thought it was good law, because drivers improve significantly in the first six months of driving.

A third new traffic law, the “left lane law,” doesn’t affect local law enforcement, but it affects many local drivers.

The law says that drivers on interstate highways must use the left lane only for passing other vehicles, State Police Lt. Lincoln Hampton said.

The enforcement of the law has been up to the discretion of each officer, Hampton said.

Usually an officer will consider a car that is moving slowly in the left lane, with other cars behind it, to be breaking the law, Hampton said.

Officers did not enforce the law too strictly at the beginning of the year, but will start to do so, Hampton said.