Laws Regarding Child Safety Seats

Car crashes are the leading cause of death in children age 3 to 6 and 8 to 14, according to the National Highway and Safety Administration. There were 6,532 fatal crashes in 2007 involving children age 14 and younger. The sad fact is that many of these deaths could be prevented with the proper use of a child safety seats, better known as car seats. This has led states to enact laws requiring the use of child safety seats for children. Understanding and following these laws is not only required, it also helps ensure the safety of our children.

History

In response to concerns from parents and safety groups, Congress passed a law known as The Transportation Recall Enhancement, Accountability, and Documentation Act (TREAD) which required the National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA), to create a system for rating car seats by 2002. The NHTSA also embarked on a pilot program to determine what kind of ratings would prove useful for consumers. The result was the NHTSA Ease of Use Program.

Geography

All 50 U.S. States have child safety seat laws, although the exact nature of these laws varies from state to state. Some states require specific forms of child safety seats depending upon the child's age or size, while other states only require that children also be restrained in the vehicle as part of their seat belt use laws.

Features

Car seat laws in some states are very specific. The state of Colorado, for example, requires rear-facing infant seats for children younger than 1 year of age, a forward-facing car seat for children 1 to 3 and under 40 lb., and a child booster seat for children under 55 inches in height. On the other hand, the state of Florida merely requires that car seats be used by children younger than 3.

Expert Insight

Regardless of what the minimum requirements of state laws dictate, the NHTSA recommends that babies be placed in rear-facing child safety seats for as long as possible, but at a minimum until age 1 and the baby weighs 20 pounds. After outgrowing rear-facing seats, the agency recommend a forward-facing child safety seat until the child reaches the height or weight limit of the car seat. Finally, children are recommended to use booster seats until they are at least 57 inches tall because this height allows the shoulder strap of typical seat belts to fit properly across the chest and not dangerously around the neck.

Warning

All children, but especially children in car seats, should ride in the back seat. Airbags in the front of many cars can cause serious injury to children if deployed while a child is in a car seat, which does not provide the same distance and movement of the passenger seat.

References

• National Highway and Safety Administration; Traffic Safety
• National Highway and Safety Administration; ;All 50 states' main provisions