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Child Passenger Safety

Motor vehicle crashes are the number one killer of children ages 2-14. But children ages 4-8 who use booster seats are 59 percent less likely to be injured in a car crash than children who are restrained only by a safety belt.

The Vermont Governor’s Highway Safety Program, Vermont Safe Kids and state and local law enforcement as well as many other agencies is joining with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Ad Council and others is to place special emphasis on reminding all parents and other adults responsible for children traveling in motor vehicles: “if they’re are under 4’9”, they need a booster seat.”

While 94 percent of America’s toddlers are now regularly restrained, not enough kids ages 4-8 are properly and safely restrained. Only 10-20 percent of kids ages 4-8 who should be using booster seats to protect them are actually in them. This puts children at an unnecessary risk of being injured or killed in crashes because they are simply in the wrong restraint for their size.

One study showed that children ages 2-5 who are moved to safety belts too early are four times more likely to sustain a serious head injury than those restrained in booster seats. In a traffic crash, the shoulder strap of an adult safety belt will hit a child shorter than 4’ 9”across the neck or face rather than the chest and there is also a greater risk of internal injury because an adult lap belt hits across the child’s stomach rather then his/her lap. These children need a booster seat – which raises them up so that adult safety belts fit over their chests and hips properly – and protects them in the event of a crash.

As children grow, how they sit in your car, truck, van or SUV should also change. For maximum passenger safety, parents and caregivers simply need to remember and follow the 4 Steps for Kids:

1. Use rear-facing infant seats in the back seat from birth to at least one year of age and at least 20 pounds; 2. Use forward-facing toddler seats in the back seat from age one and 20 pounds to about age four and 40 pounds; 3. Use booster seats in the back seat from about age four to at least age eight – unless the child is 4 ft. 9 inches or taller and 4. Use safety belts in the back seat at age eight or older or taller than 4 ft. 9 inches. All children age 12 or younger should ride in the back seat.

Many parents are under the false impression that children who have outgrown child safety seats can move right into safety belts, but nothing could be further from the truth. Safety belts, which are designed to fit adults, won’t fully restrain a child in a crash. Using a booster seat will better protect your child from being thrown from the vehicle, or thrown around inside it, during a crash.

Other parents or caregivers may regard booster seats as a hassle to use or a pain to convince their children to use. But truly protecting the ones we love means getting past the temporary complaints and perceived hassles because the lives of our children are really at risk.

Please help us remind all parents, grandparents, childcare providers and other adults in charge of children, that if their kids are under 4’9” tall, they need a booster seat.

For more information about the proper use of booster seats or a safety seat check in your area, call
888-868-7328.

VERMONT IMPROVES ITS CHILD PASSENGER SAFETY LAWS
New provisions took effect January 1, 2004

• Download a flyer on the new law.
• Frequently Asked Questions about Vermont's New Child Restraint Law.

Provisions in Vermont Law are often what guide parents and other caregivers when they are making decisions on how to most safely transport their children.

Current law outlines inadequate protection for children, especially those between the ages of 5 and 8 years. Children 5 – 8 years old have outgrown child car seats but are not big enough for the car’s seatbelts to fit them or to adequately protect them in the event of a car crash. A booster seat is needed for these children to raise them up so the car’s seat belts fit them properly. This past session, the Legislature improved the law, thereby safeguarding children and giving parents proper guidance.

The new law ( effective January 1, 2004) stipulates that no person shall operate a motor vehicle, other than a type I school bus, in this state upon a public highway unless every occupant under age 16 is properly restrained in a federally approved child passenger restraining system as defined in 49 C.F.R. § 571.213 (1993) or a federally-approved safety belt, as follows:

• All children under the age of one, and all children weighing less than 20 pounds, regardless of age, shall be restrained in a rear-facing position, properly secured in a federally-approved child passenger restraining system, which shall not be installed in front of an active air bag;
• A child weighing more than 20 pounds, and who is one year of age or older and under the age of eight years, shall be restrained in a child passenger restraining system (This means convertible, combination and booster child safety seats); and
• A child eight through 15 years of age shall be restrained in a safety belt system or a child passenger restraining system.
• Penalties for failing to follow the child passenger safety laws: The fine is $25.00 for the first offense, $50.00 for the second and $100.00 for the third offense. No points will be assessed to the license of the driver.
• Medical exemptions were repealed, as improvements in car seat technology have eliminated the need for any exemptions. Contact your local pediatrician or the number below to learn more.

For more information about child passenger safety

1-888-868-7328