Anyone from Indiana?
Moms View Message Board: Parenting Discussion: Archive January-June 2005:
Anyone from Indiana?
New Indiana Booster Seat Law effective July 1st.
The Associated Press State & Local Wire
May 30, 2005, Monday, BC cycle
SECTION: State and Regional
HEADLINE: Booster seat law to soon take effect
BYLINE: By MIKE SMITH, AP Political Writer
DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS
BODY:
Sara Kubina of Sheridan is still mad about a new booster seat law that
dictates how children ages 4 through 7 must be restrained in cars.
"I think our police and highway patrol have better things to do than handle
who has car seats and wonder how old a child is," said Kubina, whose 6-year-old
daughter wears a seat belt but does not ride in a booster seat. "If parents
want to do that, I think that's fine, but I don't think it needs to be
legislated past the age of three or four."
Efforts to sway the thinking of people like Kubina will be put to the test
July 1, when Indiana joins 30 other states and the District of Columbia in
requiring booster seats or other restraint devices for children who have outgrown
safety seats but are too small to use adult belts.
Proponents of the law, which was enacted in 2004 but delayed a year to allow
for education campaigns, say booster seats save lives.
Nearly 3,300 children nationwide ages 4 to 7 died in motor vehicle crashes
between 1994 and 2002, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety
Administration. In 95 percent of those accidents, children were either
unrestrained or restrained only by an adult seat belt.
"This law is about making sure that children are protected from death or
serious and permanent physical injury," said state Rep. Peggy Welch,
D-Bloomington, who authored Indiana's legislation.
Current state law requires children through age 3 to ride in safety seats,
which use a harness. Booster seats allow lap and shoulder belts to fit older
children properly. Without them, the belts can result in neck and internal
injuries for children weighing less than 80 pounds.
Indiana's new law requires most children ages 4 through 7 to sit in booster
seats and be restrained by lap and shoulder belts while riding in cars. It also
requires children ages 8 to 15 to wear belts in all vehicles.
The booster seat provision does not set height or weight restrictions, but
police can waive the $25 infraction if they decide a child between 4 and 7 is
safely fitted by a lap and shoulder belt.
Those are children who can sit with their backs straight against the seat
back cushion, with knees bent over the seat's edge without slouching.
The law has some exceptions: A child over 40 pounds can use only a lap belt
if the vehicle lacks both lap and shoulder belts, or if all such belts are
being used by other children under age 16.
Some vehicles are exempt, including school and public passenger buses, taxis,
antique vehicles and vehicles that seat more than nine people and are owned
or operated by a religious or not-for-profit organization.
Motorists cited for booster violations do not have to pay the fine if they
show they have acquired the proper seats within 30 days. Fines that are
collected will go to a state account used to help low-income residents buy them.
Proponents acknowledge they still have some educating to do about the law.
Keisha Nickolson, state coordinator for the Indiana SAFE KIDS Coalition, said
many residents still don't know of the law or currently use booster seats.
The organization did an observational survey at 18 state sites in 2003, and only
15 percent of children ages 4 to 7 were in booster seats, she said.
The NHTSA released a telephone survey of about 6,000 individuals last
September indicating that only one in five young children ride in booster seats.
The Indiana Criminal Justice Institute has run an awareness campaign about
the law since January. It has included radio and television ads and billboards,
said Nicole Alexander, the agency's communications director. It also has
distributed brochures at public events and to several organizations.
State Sen. Tom Wyss, R-Fort Wayne, hopes the message gets through.
"Some people will complain, but in the end we are going to be saving lives,
and to me that is the ultimate thing," said Wyss, a co-sponsor of the bill.
But when Kubina was asked if she would abide by the law, she answered in two
words: "No comment."
I am! Thanks for posting this article. The stink here started last summer when they were passing this law. I personally think it should be based on weight. My friend has a HUGE (not exaggerating in any way, over 90lbs.) son who is 6. There's no way he will fit in a booster seat. He is wide to say the least! I'm not even sure how they are managing because I haven't spoken with her for a while.
On the other side of that, my sister's boys are both small but one is 8 and doesn't legally need to be in a booster so she doesn't have him in one. I think he SHOULD be in one for sure, and it drives me crazy that she doesn't make him.
I just think it should be weight limits, not ages. What do you think?
Trina I was looking at the ages of your kids. Is your son still in his booster? How much does he weigh? My youngest is still in his booster (most of the time), but I have started noticing a lot of his classmates that just look to big for boosters, but are still in them. As car seat techs are you also told when it is time to get out of them? Wih my middle kid he was just so tall, we knew when he didn't look right. But I guess parents are finally starting to catch on, but once they get in the habit it is hard to stop? Are you finding this? Just curious, I knew with a 9 year old you certainly have thought about when is it time.
Also do you think different cars have different ages? I know my honda middle seat belts adjust really low, so they fit on my kids better younger (still at least 8 i think). Are there some cars that are better than others for those?
It's very difficult to come up with a law that covers every child. There will always be kids who don't fit in nicely. They try to come up with something that will generally cover the target population of kids, but of course, politics take a big part as well. Take a look at how different state child restraint laws are. Politics! We CPS Techs have a saying, "It's not about laws, it's about lives." The laws of physics will always over ride the laws of man. If a child is too small to fit properly in a vehicle seat belt alone, that child will not have adequate crash protection. I follow and teach the current CPS recommendations put out by safety experts. Regarding booster use - the current recommendation is that kids are safest in boosters until at least 4'9", 80-100 lbs. and can pass the 5 Step Test. Some kids may not be able to pass this test until 11 or 12 yrs. old. My DD will probably be one of them. 
Kaye, yes, my DS is still in a booster and will be for a long time yet. The seat belt cuts across his neck without one. He will be turning 9 this August, is 68 lbs. and 4'4" tall. Most of his peers are not in boosters but that doesn't matter to him. He knows he's safest that way. To answer your question concerning different cars... Yes, some kids will pass the 5 Step Test in one vehicle but not in another.
More booster info:
CPS Resources
My in-laws live there, and a couple of Nate's cousins have small children. I'll pass on the info!! Thanks Trina!!
Oh, and here's one to get your blood boiling... I saw a toddler in the backseat of a car today (on post mind you!!), sticking her head out the half-open window, not restrained at all. Where were the MPs?! I mentioned it to my neighbor, who said she saw a lady at Walmart driving while HOLDING her baby. People like that should be beaten.
I live here = ) thanks for the info = )
I thought the age was 6 or 60lbs everywhere. Does anyone know what the age is in Virginia?
Kristie, click on the link above: "state child restraint laws".
Michigans Seat Laws are awful 3 and younger in a car seat is all it says!
Thank you Trina!
|
Members
