Mom Fights for Booster Seat Laws
By Nedra Pickler
c. The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) – After an accident five years ago that killed her
4-year-old son – who was buckled in with a seat belt – Autumn Alexander
Skeen pushed her home state of Washington to pass the country’s first law
requiring booster seats for children too big for infant car seats and too
small for regular seat belts.
California and Arkansas have passed similar laws in the last year and about
20 other states are considering them.
“I had made my decision to put him in that seat belt based on the law,” said
Skeen, a writer from Walla Walla, Wash. “When I got my pieces back together,
I felt the duty to examine the law, and it’s an illusion. I can’t tell you
the outrage in me.”
The seat belt was too big for her son Anton, and he died after the vehicle
rolled over and he was thrown from it. His seat belt was still clicked shut.
Skeen was to testify Tuesday at a hearing on booster seats in front of the
consumer affairs subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science
and Transportation.
All states require car seats for the smallest children, usually up to 4
years old, but federal data shows that less than 10 percent of children
between 4 and 8 use booster seats.
“We’ve got the whole notion down that our most fragile human beings –
infants – should be in child safety seats,” said Heather Pau, executive
director of the National Safe Kids Campaign. “But when children get older,
past 20 pounds, parents are taking more risks with them. We need to close
the gaps in laws and the gaps in parents’ understanding.”
Booster seats can vary in appearance, but usually look like the seats that
children use to reach the table at a restaurant. They elevate the child so
the seat belt fits properly across the shoulder and lap.
Size is more important than age in determining how long to use a booster
seat. The federal government recommends that children from 40 to 80 pounds
and less than 4 feet 9 inches tall should always use them.
No one is sure how many deaths and injuries could be prevented if booster
seats were used more. About 500 children between 4 and 8 die in car
accidents, making it their leading cause of death.
Doctors at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia have been collecting data
on child crash injuries since 1998 and found that children who wear booster
seats are only half as likely to be injured.
Dr. Dennis Durbin, an emergency room physician who is working on the study,
said internal injuries to young accident victims are so common that they are
known as the “seat belt syndrome” in the medical community.
“When you see these kids, you ask a few questions and you realize this
problem could have been prevented,” Durbin said.
Automakers are working to increase awareness of booster seats and other
aspects of child safety in vehicles. Ford Motor Co. plans to give away
500,000 seats and Nissan has sponsored a public service campaign to educate
minority communities about booster seats.
Jim Hall, who served as chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board
under President Clinton, has called on automakers to install integrated
booster seats in all vehicles and has asked all states to pass laws
requiring their use.
“There has been a lack of political leadership in our state legislatures to
improve safety on our highways, and we are paying the price with our
children’s lives,” he said.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sponsored a weeklong
campaign last year to increase booster seat awareness. Congress has ordered
the agency to study the effectiveness of booster seats and develop a plan by
Nov. 1 to reduce by 25 percent the number of deaths and injuries caused by
lack of use.
On the Net:
Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation:
http://www.senate.gov~commerce/evol.htm
National Safe Kids Campaign:
http://www.safekids.org
Boost America:
http://www.boostamerica.org
AP-NY-04-24-01 0252EDT Copyright 2001 The Associated Press. The
information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast,
rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of
The Associated Press.
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