Proposed Law Seeks to Restrain Kids Age 8 & Younger
Updated: Tuesday, 25 Jan 2011, 10:56 AM MST
Published : Monday, 24 Jan 2011, 6:19 PM MST
PHOENIX - In the U.S., car crashes are the leading killer of children over the age of one. What you might not know is that Arizona is one of just three states that don't require older children to use booster seats in cars.
AAA is hoping to change that.
Arizona requires children under age 5 to be put in car seats. But AAA Arizona says the law does not protect older kids who are older than 5 but too young to be in an adult seat belt.
Mom Lori Welch is a self-described safety freak. She has three daughters, and her 7-year-old sits in a booster seat. Welch's ex-husband is a firefighter.
"I feel they are absolutely necessary," she says. "I get to hear what the firefighters go through when they go on calls where there was a child who was not properly retrained."
AAA Arizona says booster seats, compared to adult seatbelts, reduce the risk of child injuries by 59 percent in crashes.
The proposed law would require children age 8 and younger, with a height of 4'9" or less, to be put in a child restraint system.
"And this law is a great law because it tells parents this is what you need to do in order to keep your child as safe as possible," says Dr. David Notrica, the Trauma Medical Director for Phoenix Children's Hospital.
"It's a critical, critical part of saving a child's life and decreasing the risk of injury," he says. "I think the worst injuries are those spinal cord injuries that are directly preventable by being in a booster seat and being appropriately restrained."
According to AAA, in 2009, hospital charges for children ages 5 through 8 who were injured in car crashes topped more than $4 million.
AHCCCS, Arizona's Medicaid agency, paid more than 75 percent of those charges.
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