Tristan’s Law- Increased Safety Precautions for Ice Cream Trucks

July 23, 2021
The safety of our children is my top priority as your representative in Hartford. This session we passed Public Act 21-20 to strengthen the traffic safety measures of ice cream trucks in order to increase visibility to other drivers.
 
This new law is known as “Tristan’s Law,” named after Tristan Barhorst, a 10-year-old boy from Wallingford who was hit by a passing car after purchasing ice cream last summer. Senator Blumenthal and our federal delegation are now advocating to make Tristan's law a nationwide standard.
This law requires ice cream trucks to increase their visibility to other drivers; warning drivers that children may be present by adding similar features to that of a school bus, such as:
  • Red flashing lights on the roof
  • Convex mirror on the front hood
  • Front crossing arm attached to the bumper
  • Stop signal arm extending horizontally from the left side of the truck

This law requires all traffic to stop ten feet in front of or behind the ice cream truck when the front crossing arm is extended. The law also prohibits trucks from vending ice cream on any road with a speed limit greater than 25 miles per hour or within 500 feet of an elementary or middle school on school days. Additionally, the Department of Motor Vehicles is committed to include the new traffic laws around ice cream trucks in the Drivers Education curriculum, because the prevention of these accidents is dependent on all drivers knowing and understanding the law.
 
These safety features are vital to protecting all children across the state.