Texas Considers Mandating Usage Of Car Booster Seats
Posted by
Brooks SchuelkeMay 12, 2009 11:29 AMThis is a fairly common conversation at my house:
Kid -- Do I have to use my booster seat?
Me -- Yes.
Kid -- But _________ doesn't use a booster seat.
Me -- I must love you more than ___________'s parents love him or her.
The fact of the matter is that usage of a car booster seat is critical for the safety of our young children. Most car seats are designed to work for adults. If a child is using a seat belt without a booster seat then the seat belt won't fit properly. If a serious wreck occurs, then the belt likely won't restrain the child, resulting in serious injury. And even if the child remains restrained, the improperly fitting seat belt could cause serious injuries to the child's organs.
I originally wrote about these dangers in another post, and I received thanks from a parent in one of the comments. At that time, the parent asked whether this conduct was illegal, and I responded that I would hope that common sense was enough, and I questioned whether we needed a law on this.
The Texas legislature may answer that question for me. Yesterday, the Texas House passed a law that would require all children ages 5 to 8 who are under 4'9" to ride in booster seats. In part of the debate, an official from Dell Children's Hospital noted that usage of booster seats can reduce a child's risk of injury from a wreck by 59%.
I don't know whether it's a good idea to have a new law on this or not, but I do think it's great to have awareness on the issue. The more that the usage of booster seats is discussed in the media, the more parents might keep their kids confined and safe. And that's a good thing, with or without a law.