ELK GROVE — The California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) announced a reminder to parents, caregivers and drivers to take note of a new law regarding child safety seats.
Beginning Jan. 1, all children younger than 8 must be properly buckled into a car seat or booster seat placed in the back seat.
Additionally, youth 8 or older who are not tall enough for the seatbelt to fit properly must ride in a booster or car seat. The law previously required children to remain in a booster seat until they turned 6 years old or weighed 60 pounds.
“This is an important new law that will impact more than 1.1 million children in California,” OTS Director Christopher J. Murphy said. “Keeping them in booster seats increases their chance of surviving a crash by 45 percent.”
State agencies are targeting hospitals, day care centers, pediatricians, community service organizations and other groups to make sure families learn of the new requirements.
Local public health departments will be able to refer parents to a fitting station if they have difficulties installing the safety seats, according to Dr. Ron Chapman, director and state health officer for the California Department of Public Health.
“Although we know that placing children in age- and size-appropriate seats is the best way to reduce serious and fatal injuries, progressing children from rear-facing and forward-facing car seats to booster seats can be confusing,” he said.
The cost of violating the law will be significant. For each child younger than 16 who is not properly secured, parents (if in the car) or the driver can be ticketed for more than $475 and receive a violation point on their driving record.
Most children impacted by the new law can remain in the booster seat they already have. If it is necessary to buy a different one, low-back boosters can be purchased at major retailers for as little as $15 to $20 each.
A booster simply “boosts” the child up in order to make the adult-sized belt safely fit a child-sized body. If the belt crosses the child”s stomach instead of the hipbones, the child can be severely injured by the belt itself if involved in a crash.
A child fits an adult seatbelt when:
– They can sit against the vehicle seat back with their knees bent without slouching and can comfortably stay in this position throughout the trip.
– The lap belt is low on the hips touching the upper thighs and the shoulder belt crosses the chest, but is not on the face or neck.
For more information about the new law call a local health department or visit www.cdph.ca.gov/vosp or http://www.ots.ca.gov/Child_Passenger_Safety.asp.
