HB 140 Passes!!!

This blog entry is a little late in coming.  I should have posted about this exciting event as soon as I heard about it, but I wanted to have some photos to accompany it and that took me awhile.  So most of you are probably wondering what in the world HB 140 is.  Well it's Utah's new Booster Seat law!  You should all know by now that I am a very safety conscious person and have been trained as a Child Passenger Safety Technician (CPS Tech for short) since 2003.  So I volunteer at car seat checks and help to educate parents about using car seats and booster seats properly.  The CPS community has been trying for many years to get the Utah legislature to pass a booster seat bill.  Our current law only mandates that children age 4 and younger must ride in a child restraint while in a motor vehicle.  Some of you may be asking, "What's so bad about that?"  Well here's a letter that I wrote in support of HB 140 that will answer that question for you.  

To Representative _______,

I am writing to you to express my support of HB 140.  This is a bill that should have been passed a long time ago.  38 states and the District of Columbia have passed booster seat legislation and I cannot understand why the State of Utah has thus far ignored the safety of our children ages 5-8.  Car manufacturers design seat belts to  protect the average adult male.  We should not and cannot expect a seat belt alone to adequately protect  children under 4'9" tall.  Studies have shown that children in booster seats are 40% less likely to be hospitalized following a crash.  

Many parents falsely believe that the current law provides adequate protective measures for their children.  As a Certified Child Passenger Safety Technician I have often had parents ask me what the law is regarding safety seats and I have had to tell them that if they follow the guidelines prescribed by Utah State law their children will NOT be safe.  There are many people who will only use a booster seat for their child if it is THE LAW.

I am a stay at home mom of three children ages 2-9 and became a CPS Tech in 2003 because I wanted my children to be as safe as they could possibly be while traveling in a car and I wanted to be able to teach other parents how to keep their precious children just as safe as mine.  I don't work for a hospital or a health department; I am strictly a volunteer who cares about children.  My oldest daughter is 9 and is still riding in a backless booster seat because she is not quite 4'9" tall.  She know that she will  not "graduate" from her booster seat until she is tall enough for the seat belt to fit her properly.

Child passenger safety is something that I am passionate about and it breaks my heart when I see children riding in cars with the seat belt across their necks or behind their backs because it doesn't fit properly and knowing exactly what the consequences will be if they are unlucky enough to be in a crash.  I strongly believe that if more parents truly understood  the serious injuries that can result from not having the seat belt positioned properly on their child that more children would be in booster seats every time they rode in a car.  Passing this bill would make a huge difference in educating these parents.  I just don't understand opponents of this bill who claim to be in favor of "parent's rights."  What about the right of a child to have the adult responsible for him or her to put safety above convenience?  I can't imagine having to tell a child who has suffered serious injuries as the result of a car crash that they could have been spared their suffering if I had just taken the time to make sure they were sitting in a booster seat.  

Please do all that you can to get this bill passed.  This is a bill that truly can make a positive impact on the lives of the children of our state.  Please show your constituents that you care about children too.

Thank you,

Jill Petty

Congratulations for getting all the way through my long letter; now you are educated too!  

This law goes into effect on May 4, 2008 and requires that all children be in a child restraint up to age 8.  A child who is taller than 4'9" prior to their 8th birthday would be exempt from the law.  In my opinion, while this law is going to protect a lot of kids it would have been better to have ignored an age requirement and focused only on the height requirement of 4'9" because most 8 year old are nowhere near that tall and lots of kids are still going to "graduate" from their boosters too soon.  Here are a few other sad facts:  Between 2002 and 2006, 34 Utah children between the ages of 5 and 8 died in motor vehicle crashes.  Between 2003 and 2005, 2,188 Utah children between the ages of 5 and 8 were injured in motor vehicle crashes.  

Blythe sitting in her seat in the middle row of our Toyota Sienna mini-van without a booster seat since she refused to be photographed while sitting in one.  She is currently 4' 8 3/4" tall and the lap portion of the seat belt rides up a little higher onto her abdomen than I'm comfortable with.  You can compare the lap belt on Brynne (below) and see how hers sits much lower on her hips.  The third row has a narrower bench seat and the seat belt back there might fit her better but she prefers the middle row next to Barrett.  She is very excited about the idea of not having to ride in a booster any longer.

Brynne will turn 7 in May, she is tall for her age at 4'2".  She currently rides in this high back booster with side impact protection.  It is made by Recaro.  She went to a birthday party on Friday and all the girls went to see Horton Hears a Who at the nearby movie theater.  She didn't give me any trouble about having to take along her booster and neither did the mom hosting the party.  

Justin says I've probably killed my blog readership with this post but like I said earlier I'm passionate about child passenger safety and I love to share my knowledge with others.  I'll aim for a more light hearted post next.