Child
Safety Seats Save Lives
Booster Seat- Child Passenger
Restraint Legislation
Issue Summary
SB 1404 by
Senator Altman
HB 357 by Representative Steinberg
These
bills require a child aged 4-7 years old to be in an age appropriate child restraint system while riding in a passenger car.
The Problem of the Forgotten Child: Too Large for Child Safety Seats, Too Small for Adult
Seatbelts
• Seatbelts designed to accommodate a large adult frame utilizing the bony structures of
the ribcage and pelvis to absorb the impact, do not fit or properly restrain a child 4 to 8 causing a group of injuries often
referred to as seatbelt syndrome.
• On impact, the shoulder harness, which strikes the child at head or neck level,
does not restrain the upper body allowing it to be thrust forward on impact causing injuries to the head and spine. Ejection
from the vehicle is also made much more likely.
• The lap belt, designed to go across the bones of the adult pelvis,
strikes the 4 to 8 year old in the abdomen, making them prone to abdominal and spinal cord injuries.
Highlights of Medical Research Since 2001
•
Children ages 4 to 8 using booster seats are 59% less likely to be injured than children using seatbelts alone (Journal
of the American Medical Association, 2003).
• Children in seatbelts alone are 4 to 5 times more likely to receive
head injuries (Pediatrics, 2002).
• Children in seatbelts alone are 3 times more likely to sustain abdominal
injuries. (Annals of Surgery 2004)
• Children who are appropriately restrained are 28% less likely to die
in motor vehicle crashes. (The Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, 2006)
The Solution: To Regulate or Not to Regulate
• Since 2001, numerous governmental, medical, law enforcement, and child advocacy groups have provided parental education,
child restraint inspections and distribution of thousands of free devices, but the majority of 4 to 8 year olds are still
not properly restrained.
• Research has shown that parents look to state law for appropriate standards and state
law as a tool to explain to older children that proper restraints are nonnegotiable (Pediatrics, 2002).
•
Some car manufacturers are making integrated child safety restraints, but federal law does not require them to do so. If integrated
seats were required, it could take 20 years for the majority of cars without restraints to go out of use; everyone would have
to pay for them regardless of need; and they cannot be transferred to other vehicles.
• The state’s duty to
protect a child is greater than that for an adult because children cannot weigh the risks and benefits for themselves. In
the case of age appropriate vehicle occupant restraints, the state does not allow the adults to choose for themselves.
Enforcement
• A law requiring children ages 4 to 8 to be in belt positioning booster seats using age based criteria alone eliminates
the need for measurement of height or weight at the roadside, which subjects the officer and child to injury.
•
Age requirements can be confirmed with little room for challenges to interpretation and are currently used by law enforcement
for child safety seats for children under 4.
• Exemptions for broad classes of extended relatives, car pools, or
extenuating circumstances make the law unenforceable and have caused interpretation problems resulting in litigation in other
states. Exemptions for extenuating circumstances are inconsistent with the bulk of other traffic laws that do not have similar
exemptions.
• Booster seats are small enough to easily store in the trunk or rear compartment of vehicles regularly
used to transport children and are easily transferred from one vehicle to another.
• Primary enforcement dramatically
increases compliance.
• A period of time without fines or points could help with the transition to booster seats.
Subsequently, fines and points could be waived with purchase of a booster seat or for receiving education.
Economics
• Booster seats can cost as
little as $14.83.
• A study by NHTSA since 2001 using 2000 calendar year data calculates the US economic costs of
an average roadway fatality at $977,000 and estimates the economic costs associated with a critically injured crash survivor
at $1.1 million. 75% of accident costs are paid by entities and individuals not involved in the crash. NHTSA listed the economic
cost of motor vehicle accidents yearly in Florida to be $14,403,000,000.00. (The Economic Impact of Motor Vehicle Crashes
2000, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.)
• The cost of motor vehicle crashes in the U.S. has
reached $230.6 billion a year, or 2.3 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product, about $820 for every person in the U.S.
• About 9 percent of costs from motor vehicle crashes are paid from public revenues. Federal Revenues account for 6
percent, while states and localities pay about 3 percent.
• Florida’s trauma centers like others in the U.S.
are struggling with staggering budget shortfalls in part due to uncompensated care and have sought government funding.
• The low-income family is most disadvantaged by current laws. Poverty level parents may be 1) less likely to subscribe
to magazines and newspapers to learn about the problem, 2) less likely to have regular well-child visits to a pediatrician
who would tell them about the problem, 3) less willing to buy the booster seats if not required, 4) less likely to have late
model cars with additional safety features, 5) less able to afford long term medical care if accidents occur.
•
NHTSA currently has a grant program for states passing booster seat legislation. Numerous law enforcement, medical, and child
advocacy groups are involved in providing free devices.
Tourism
• Since 2001, 37 states and D.C. have enacted booster seat legislation,
including our neighbors, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee, lessening some of the concerns about tourists traveling into
our state from states without booster seat laws.
• Because over half of the states have booster seat laws, the traveling
public is much more likely to inquire about booster seat requirements in states they will be visiting.
• Many of
Florida’s tourism based businesses are in other states with booster seat laws (including California and New York) and
are experienced in working with them.
• Booster Seat legislation typically requires rental car companies to provide
booster seats and inform parents of booster seat laws.
• Vehicles of 10 passengers or more are typically exempt
from booster seat laws.
• The needs of Florida’s tourism industry that is so vital to Florida’s economy
can be balanced with the need to keep children traveling Florida highways safer.
• Because our state is known around
the world as a top travel destination for children, our state should also be known as one of the safest for children.
Reference Materials
Children's
Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) Publications on Child Passenger Safety
Current and Formerly Proposed Legislation
Video
This clip involves a loving family who moved their child to a booster seat too early and unfortunately
had a defective safety belt, but it emphasizes the importance of parental education and how crucial it is to have age appropriate
restraints. Most experts agree that parents look to state laws for guidance on restraining their children.
There is a crash test video depicting a six year old in an adult safety belt without a booster seat at the end.
This reference was provided by FHP Trooper Kim Miller.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azgBhZfcqaQ&NR
Links to Other Websites To
Learn More About Child Passenger Safety:
Check these websites to learn more
about child passenger safety, see guides on finding the appropriate restraint devices for your child, learn about activities
to help promote child passenger safety, download educational and advocacy materials, see sample letters to your elected officials,
and more.
www.chop.edu/injury
www.AAP.org
www.NHTSA.gov
www.safekids.org
www.boosterseat.gov
Contact your local elected official or learn more about the legislative process:
www.myflorida.com
Junior Leagues of Florida
Done in a Day Projects
http://www.jlflspac.org/BoosterSeatFiles/JL_DIAD.pdf
