New law boosts children's safety

The booster seat law requires children between the ages of 4 and 7 who weigh at least 40 pounds to be secured in a booster seat unless they weigh 80 pounds or are 4 feet 9 inches tall. Children who are older than 8 or who meet the height or weight requirements are required to be in a safety belt. They can ride in a booster seat, but it isn’t required by law. The fine for violating the law, which went into effect Aug. 28, is $50 plus court costs. The law does not apply to school buses or public transportation vehicles.

“We’ve been getting lots of calls from parents, day cares, churches, about how it’s going to affect them,” said Daphne Greenlee, Safe Kids Coordinator for Safe Kids Springfield and Safety Council of the Ozarks.

Area organizations, including Greenlee’s, have been working to educate parents and organizations on the new law. Safety Council of the Ozarks has information online at www.nscozarks.org.

Federal funds

Because the law follows federal guidelines that encourage states to pass booster seat laws, Missouri is hoping to cash in on federal funding to help cover costs of education and purchasing booster seats for families who cannot afford them.

A representative in the office of Sen. Chris Koster, who sponsored the new legislation, said the state is looking to receive as much as $800,000 a year for the next five years to help offset the costs to parents and organizations.

The state hasn’t yet been notified whether it qualifies for the federal funds, said Pam Hoelscher, system management specialist and child passenger safety coordinator for the Highway Safety Division at the Missouri Department of Transportation, which would distribute the money.

Learning the law

In the meantime, local businesses are dealing with the changes.

Christina O’Neill, director of La La Bye Learning & Childcare Center in Springfield, said she has dealt with outraged parents and children, and with the confusion that comes with keeping track of which booster seat belongs to which child and making sure that every child who needs a booster seat has one.

The cost – and the availability – of booster seats falls to parents whose children attend O’Neill’s center.

“We can’t financially supply booster seats,” she said. “Basically, the parent has to bring it in every time we have a field trip, or they have to leave one here. It will definitely cut back on our field trips.”

O’Neill said she has been educating the parents of the children she cares for since the law passed. She called the state and found out exactly what it would mean to her business and sent out a letter to the affected parents.

O’Neill said it has been especially difficult to convince older children who have been riding in a vehicle without a booster seat for several years that they once again have to use them. But, she adds, she will follow the law and understands that it is in effect only to further protect the children.

“We take our 4- and 5-year-olds on field trips and they didn’t used to have to use anything,” O’Neill said. “And also, we pick kids up from school, so there’s some second- and third-graders who still have to be in booster seats. With the school kids, it causes a big problem.”

‘Forgotten’ children

Prior to Aug. 28, Missouri law required children under the age of 4 or 40 pounds to be properly restrained in a child safety seat.

“We’re finding out more and more all the time that the children between the ages of 4 and 8 are kind of the forgotten child, and we really haven’t been protecting them adequately,” said MoDOT’s Hoelscher, who notes that the new law has garnered support from safety advocates and medical professionals.

Hoelscher said trauma-unit nurses are among the supporters of the new law, because they often see children who are seriously injured in crashes.

“They’re too short for the seat belt,” said Hoelscher. “That’s what a booster seat does. It actually boosts the child up so that the lap-shoulder belt does fit them appropriately, and the chance for them getting seriously injured in a car crash is lowered.”

She cited a study from the Journal of the American Medical Association that found that “the use of belt-positioning booster seats lowers the risk of injury to children in crashes by 59 percent compared to the use of vehicle safety belts alone.”

And a statement by Missouri children’s hospitals says that there are 30 kids a year in Missouri killed not from the car accidents but from improper fit of their seat belts.

Thirty-seven states and the District of Columbia have passed similar laws requiring older children to ride in booster seats.

“We’re on the tail end of it, but it was definitely needed to protect kids between 4 and 8 years old,” Safe Kids’ Greenlee said.

Help is available

For businesses or individuals who need more information about the new booster seat law, local and state organizations are ready to offer assistance.

• Safe Kids Springfield has a car seat safety check scheduled 10 a.m.–2 p.m. Sept. 9 at the Battlefield Mall/St. John’s Baby Expo at Battlefield Mall.

• Car seat checks also can be done at any time by scheduling an appointment with Safe Kids Springfield, the Traffic Safety Alliance, St. John’s Trauma Services or CoxHealth.

Rana Post, child life coordinator for CoxHealth, said the safety seat checks are a good place for families to determine what type of seat their child should be in and to make sure their seats are properly installed.

“We assess the family’s needs and the children’s age, weight and height and try to help them find the best car seat or the best seating situation in their vehicle,” Post said.

Where to call

Safety Council of the Ozarks/Safe Kids Springfield – (417) 869-2121

Traffic Safety Alliance – (417) 864-2037

St. John’s Trauma Services – (417) 820-6671

CoxHealth – (417) 269-4117

Missouri Department of Transportation Highway Safety Division – 1-800-800-BELT[[In-content Ad]]