Austin Personal Injury Lawyer - Booster Seats

Governor Perry, Please Sign SB 61 Mandating Use Of Booster Seats

Brooks Schuelke — Tue, 26 May 2009 22:01:07 GMT

In today's Austin American Statesman, Dr. Todd Maxson, the trauma medical director at Dell Children's Hospital (and dad of two of the kids on the little league team I helped coach this year), wrote an editorial encouraging Governor Perry to sign SB 61, which would mandate the use of booster seats by children aged 5 to 7 and under 4 foot, 9 inches.

In calling for Governor Perry to sign the bill, Dr. Maxson states:

As the trauma medical director at two of the leading pediatric medical centers in Texas — I'm at Dell Children's Medical Center after a stint at Children's Medical Center Dallas — I have witnessed the devastating consequences of injuries due to the improper restraint of children in motor vehicles.

I cannot begin to share with you the grief and dismay that parents — who obeyed current Texas child restraint law, yet in a crash saw their children killed or disabled — feel when they realize that the law does not match the best proven safety standards.

Senate Bill 61, awaiting signature by Gov. Rick Perry, will prevent death and permanent disability to children 5 through 7 by ensuring that they are appropriately restrained in a vehicle during a crash.

Current Texas law requires children to be restrained in a seatbelt. That restraint, however, does not provide adequate protection during a crash. Children ages 5 through 7 who are restrained only by a seatbelt are susceptible to injuries, paralysis and death. The simple addition of a booster seat allows the vehicles' restraining device to better protect the occupant.

I hope all of you will join me in encouraging Governor Perry in signing this important legislation.

And let me add, that I know my last three posts have all dealt with this issue. I do not want to beat a dead horse, but right now, there are probably few things that I could do that are as important as helping protect all of our children.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brooks Schuelke

Texas Considers Mandating Usage Of Car Booster Seats

Brooks Schuelke — Tue, 12 May 2009 11:29:38 GMT

This 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.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brooks Schuelke

For The Love Of Your Child, Please Use A Car Or Booster Seat

Brooks Schuelke — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 10:09:13 GMT

I received a twitter note (you can follow me @bschuelke) this morning from a local news station (@KXAN for you twitterers) saying that an unrestrained child was ejected and killed in a car wreck this morning. As a parent, there isn't anything you can do that is more important than protecting your child, and properly using a car or booster seat is one of the most important things you can do to protect your child.

The National Center for Health Statistics says that motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for the 2-14 year old age group. And a lot of the problem is in Texas. Texas and California are neck and neck for the 1 and 2 rankings of the number of child deaths from car wrecks, and both states almost double the number 3 ranked state for number of deaths.

Many of these deaths can be prevented by the proper use of car seats and booster seats. National Highway Transportation Safety Administration studies show that child safety seats can reduce the risk of fatal injury by 71 percent for infants and 54 percent for toddlers. And Center for Disease Control studies show that proper use of booster seats reduce the risk of injury by 59 percent.

The American Academy of Pediatrics has come out with their 2009 car seat guide, which summarizes as follows:

Infants: Infact seats and rear facing convertible seats. All infants younger than 1 year and who weigh less than 20 pounds should always ride rear-facing.

Toddlers/Preschoolers: Convertible seats. Children 1 year of age and at least 20 pounds can ride forward-facing. It is best to ride rear-facing as long as possible.

School-aged children: Booster seats. Booster seats are for older children who have outgrown their forward-facing car safety seats. Children should stay in a booster seat until adult belts fit correctly (usually when a child reaches about 4'9" in height and is between 8 and 12 years of age)

Older children: Seat belts. Children who have outgrown their booster seats should ride in a lap and shoulder belt in the back seat until 13 years of age.

While all seats are important, I want to emphasize the booster seat requirement. Most parents are good about keeping their kids in car seats, but I see a LOT of kids that aren't 4'9" and don't use booster seats. This is just dangerous.

Seat belts are designed for adults. If your child doesn't meet the 4'9" requirement, then the seat belts will not keep the child in position in a serious wreck. The child will flail around and potentially be ejected or partially ejected from the vehicle, almost certainly killing the child.

I know there's a lot of pressure from kids and even potentially other parents to not use the booster seats, but as an attorney, who only handles auto porduct liability cases told me was his response to parents that don't use booster seats, "I just tell other parents that I'm glad to know I love my kids more than they love theirs."

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Brooks Schuelke