Time For Arizona, Florida, and South Dakota To Protect Those Kids

Mike Bryant

Attorney
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The safety of booster seats for 4 to 8 year olds is beyond question. As was pointed out by my partner Joe Crumley, there are many advantages to extending the protection. The Minnesota Legislature went through the issues and with very little opposition, went for protection over the doubters. It's a group that needs to be protected. I was reminded of this last week when a mother called me and had two kids who were all shaken up after a rear end collision destroyed the back of the car. Thankfully, that's all they were and I would suspect that it was the safety of their being wrapped in booster seats that made the biggest difference.

Right now 47 states and the District of Columbia require booster seats for kids who are too big for child safety seats with harnesses, but too small to properly wear a regular seat belt. The hold outs are Arizona, Florida and South Dakota. The National Transportation Safety Board is working to change that. "If they use a booster seat and a seat belt, rather than a seat belt alone, they reduce their risk of injury by 59 percent," Deborah Hersman, head of the NTSB says. "And what the data and the facts tell us is that it's much safer to be in a booster seat that restrains your child properly in the event of an accident."

I'm a big fan of Mad Men on AMC. It was interesting last year when they showed the mother driving down the road and suddenly having to stop. The daughter, who was standing up in the back seat, went flying off the seat and ended up in the foot area on the passenger side. A different time and while a very simple scene, was indeed a scary moment. Hopefully, these states will come up to speed and join in the protection of these small children.