Woo hoo! This has been a long time coming in my state!

http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-childseats0607.artjun07,0,545201.story?coll=hc-headlines-local

Booster Seat Use Becomes Law
Children Must Be 7 Years Old And At Least 60 Lbs. Before Seatbelts Alone Will Be Permitted
June 7, 2005
By STEPHANIE REITZ, Courant Staff Writer Starting this fall, Connecticut will require drivers to use booster seats for children who are too large for conventional child-safety car seats, but who, experts say, are too small to be adequately protected by regular seat belts.

Current state law requires children to ride in car seats until they turn 4 or weigh at least 40 lbs. Then, they can remain in a car seat if they still fit, or must be buckled into either a regular seat belt or a booster seat.

The new law, which goes into effect Oct. 1, will take away the option of using a regular seat belt. Drivers will be required to strap those children into booster seats - which must be secured by both the lap and shoulder seat belts - until they reach their 7th birthday and weigh 60 lbs. or more.

The new law makes Connecticut the 34th state to require booster seats. The change is expected to affect thousands of parents, grandparents, carpool drivers and others who regularly drive with young children in their vehicles.

The new law, which Gov. M. Jodi Rell signed last week, also requires the use of rear-facing child-safety seats for infants until they reach 20 lbs. or their first birthday.

A coalition of emergency workers, medical professionals, child-safety advocates and others has been lobbying lawmakers for several years to enact the booster-seat law, saying it will help protect small children from neck, stomach and internal injuries they can receive from conventional seat belts.

"Now parents can look to the law for good advice and good guidance to help keep their kids safe," said Karen Brock, director of Connecticut Safe Kids at the Connecticut Children's Medical Center in Hartford.

Passenger vehicles' seat belts are designed to lie across the collarbone and hipbones, which are stronger than soft tissue and can absorb more force in a crash. When a child is too small, however, the belts often ride up and rest across the child's neck and stomach.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, children who are not in a booster seat are four times more likely to receive head injuries during a crash. They also are 3.5 times more likely to experience abdominal injuries because the seat belt across their stomach causes their bodies to jackknife violently.

The booster seats range in price from about $20 to $40, but often can be obtained free from police departments, children's hospitals and service organizations. Similar booster-seat laws already are in effect in all other Northeast states except Massachusetts, Brock said.

School vans and similar vehicles to transport students will be exempt from Connecticut's booster-seat law, although they still must comply with the existing law on child-safety seats for children up to age 4 or 40 lbs.

The state House of Representatives approved the booster-seat law on a vote of 116-23 in April, and the state Senate approved it unanimously in May.

People who violate the law will receive an infraction ticket for their first offense. The amount of the fine will be set by the judicial branch before the law goes into effect, but is expected to range from $35 to $90.

The fine for a second offense will be up to $199, and violators who break the law three or more times will be charged with a Class A misdemeanor, which is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and up to one year in jail.

State Rep. Pamela Z. Sawyer, R-Bolton, one of the legislators who voted against the measure, said the state should have embarked on a campaign for voluntary compliance rather than "making criminals out of parents who are trying to do their best by their kids."

She said it goes into effect too quickly for parents, grandparents and carpool drivers to learn about the rules and get the booster seats, and that the standards - up to age 7 and 60 lbs. or more - are "arbitrary and artificial."

"My thinking is that we should be more reactive to our families in total, and not just piggyback on what other states are doing," Sawyer said.

Brock said that officials at Connecticut Safe Kids plan to launch a publicity campaign before the law goes into effect so they can explain its requirements and answer parents' questions.

State police Sgt. J. Paul Vance said state troopers also will spread the word when speaking at car-seat installation clinics, parents' groups, in classrooms and elsewhere.

"The thrust of it is that if you're carrying precious cargo in your car, i.e. children, they will be buckled in," Vance said. "There are a few exceptions to the rule, but people generally are very compliant with the current law."

By Robin on Saturday, June 18, 2005 - 03:54 pm:

Thank you Trina for this posting. My ds, Thomas, is 9, weighs just about 70 lbs (and tall for his age) so this won't apply. My dd, Kerry, is 7 but is not yet 60 lbs and small for her age. After reading this article, I'd put her in a booster seat regardless of the law. I'm going shopping!