Senator wants to require booster seats for kids up to age 9

NOTE: CORRECTS spelling in lead and captions to Destinee sted Destiny. A corrective based on this error moved Feb. 16.

With BC-CNS-Traffic Safety Bills

Photos Available (thumbnails, captions below)

By DANIEL NEWHAUSER
Cronkite News Service

PEORIA (Tuesday, Feb. 10) _ Arizona law doesn’t require Destinee Tellef’s parents to strap her into a booster seat now that she’s 5, but she understands why they do even for trips just down the street.

“Because if we get in a crash it’s really a lot safer,” she said, modeling a $30 booster seat during a recent children’s safety fair here.

Forty-four states including California have laws requiring booster seats, which are used to position seat belts properly on children who have graduated from car seats. In Arizona, only those younger than 5 are required to travel in some kind of child-restraint system.

Sen. Linda Gray, R-Phoenix, has introduced legislation that would require children under 9 years old and shorter than 4-foot-9 to be secured in child-restraint systems. SB 1050 also would add booster seats to the state’s definition of child-restraint systems.

Gray said her bill could face opposition because it would cost parents money in a tough economy, but she added that the benefits of booster seats outweigh the cost. Kids who aren’t properly restrained are more susceptible to internal injuries in crashes because seat belts lay across the neck and abdomen, she said.

“If you have a child sitting up higher in a booster seat, then you don’t have the problem for the child surviving,” Gray said.

It’s one of several bills that AAA Arizona contends would make Arizona’s roadways safer. Among other legislation the organization is supporting this session: a bill that would require seat belts on school buses and another that would allow police officers to ticket drivers for seat belt violations without pulling them over for another offense.

Linda Gorman, a spokeswoman for AAA Arizona, said bills similar to Gray’s have failed to make it to committee in previous sessions. She said she hopes this version will at least get a hearing.

“We view the current law as very flawed,” Gorman said. “Kids should be protected until they’re tall enough to fit into an adult seat belt.”

Under SB 1050, violations would carry a $50 fine, but that would be waived once parents equip their cars with proper child restraints. The fines would be placed in a fund that helps low-income families afford car seats.

If Gray’s bill becomes law, the state could get up to $1 million in incentives from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to help with freeway safety, said Richard Fimbres, director of the Governor’s Office on Highway Safety.

“It would help us buy more booster seats for the state of Arizona,” he said.

Fimbres added that Arizona would get another $12 million if it adopted a primary seat belt law, which would allow officers to ticket drivers solely for failing to wear seat belts.

Sen. Linda Lopez, D-Tucson, is sponsoring a bill to do just that. She said she proposed SB 1411 in part for the funding but also to get people to wear safety belts.

“Every time they get in the car they need to put their seat belts on,” she said.

About 60 percent of vehicle fatalities in Arizona involve people failing to buckle up, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation.

Meanwhile, Rep. Ben Miranda, D-Phoenix, wants to mandate seat belts on school buses. Neither he nor AAA Arizona expects HB2211 to pass, but Miranda said he raised the issue because he’d like it to eventually move forward.

“Usually it takes more than one effort for this kind of legislation to have success,” he said. “Cost is going to be the primary deterrent.”

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Web Links:
_ AAA Arizona: www.aaaaz.com
_ Governor’s Office of Highway Safety: www.azgohs.gov

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PHOTOS: Click thumbnails to see full-resolution images and download; caption information is in the file under File>File Info.

CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-BOOSTER SEATS: At a safety fair in Peoria on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009, 5-year-old Destinee Tellef demonstrates how a booter seat helps position a seat belt on a child. A state senator has introduced a bill that would require that children who are under age 9 and shorter than 4-foot-9 be secured in booster seats. Arizona law currently requires child-restraint systems for those under 5. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Daniel Newhauser)

CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-BOOSTER SEATS:  A booster seat is designed to position seat belts properly on children up to ages 10. This model can convert to having no back as a child grows. A state senator is sponsoring a bill to require booster seats for children younger than 9 years old and and shorter than 4-foot-9. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Daniel Newhauser)