Home › Forums › WSB Reader Recommendations › Please Buckle up your kids!!!
- This topic is empty.
-
AuthorPosts
-
January 21, 2008 at 8:44 pm #586278
AnonymousInactiveI am posting this here as a reminder to all parents and child-care givers to please place all chidren in back-seats and to restrain them in booster seats or infant car seats. This past weekend my husband and I saw several women driving around town with children as young as 2-3 in the passenger front seats, unrestrained. God forbid what would happen to those children if the driver had to slam on their brakes. We saw 1 child fall off the seat when the driver turned a corner. Too bad we couldn’t catch up with this driver and the child that had fallen on the car floor.
Washington’s New Child Restraint Law
Effective June 1, 2007, children less than eight years old must be restrained in child restraint systems, unless the child is four feet nine inches or taller. A child who is eight years old or older, or four feet nine inches or taller, must be properly restrained either with the motor vehicle’s safety belt or an appropriately fitting child restraint system. Children under thirteen years old must be transported in rear seats where it is practical to do so.
The fine for improperly restrained children in motor vehicles is at least $112 per child.
For more information on choosing the safest seat for your child, please call 1-800-BUCK-L-UP toll-free.
Washington Child Restraint Law
On June 1, 2007, Washington’s revised Child Restraint Law went into effect. This law, also known as the Anton Skeen Act, is one of the strongest child restraint laws in the nation. It requires the use of booster seats for older children. In 2000, Washington was the first state in the nation to pass this type of law.
Key provisions of the law:
Children under the age of 16 years must be restrained in a vehicle according to the following steps:
. 1 year of age AND under or weighing less than 20 pounds:
a rear facing infant seat
. Between 1 – 4 years old or 20 – 40 pounds:
a forward facing child safety seat
. Children under 8 years of age, unless 4 feet 9 inches tall:
a booster seat with a lap and shoulder belt
. Children over 8 years of age:
a properly-fitting seat belt or a booster seat with a lap and shoulder belt
NOTE: Doctors and safety experts recommend that children ride in booster seats until the lap and shoulder belt fit right, usually when they are at least 4’9″ tall, or around 8 years old.
As of June 1, 2007, tickets cost $112 for each improperly restrained child, including if the child safety seat harness is not buckled, or if the older child has put the shoulder belt behind his back.
Shoulder belts must be used with booster seats at all times! A child is exempt from the booster seat law requirement, only when a child weighs 40 pounds or more and is in a vehicle with lap-only belts.
The law was the work of a bi-partisan legislative effort spurred on by a Walla Walla parent, Autumn Alexander Skeen.
Autumn lost her four-year-old son, Anton Skeen in a rollover collision. Anton was using a seat belt in accordance with state law at the time. Yet, because seat belts are built for adult bodies, he slid out of his seat belt and was thrown from the vehicle and crushed in the collision.
January 21, 2008 at 9:34 pm #614164
KenParticipantThe 8 year old grandson still believes my car won’t start unless his belt/ booster is “Clicked”
Since I have remote start and a few other aftermarket toys n stuff, he won’t figure it out until he gets his own car…
January 21, 2008 at 9:59 pm #614165
AnonymousInactiveGood for you Ken!! How clever that your grandson uses the “click” of his seatbeat tso you can start the car, that is cute! I wish more peope paid attention to this issue and realy thought before placing their kids in cars.
Our daughter is 7 and knows she will be in the backseat until she is 13 and she gladly gets into her booster seat.
January 21, 2008 at 10:41 pm #614166
BonnieParticipantI’ve seen that before and immediately called the cops!
January 21, 2008 at 10:48 pm #614167
CMPParticipantBefore anyone bashes on me, I always wear my seatbelt, even if I’m only driving a few blocks. I remember when I was five years old, my parents would let us kids fight over who got to sit in the front of our VW van and I’m sure the two in the back were not strapped in. And we’re still alive, somehow. However, we lived in Mississippi at the time so we were “country”, just as Britney Spears justified her baby in her lap episode. Cars are much safer nowadays so I don’t see the need to keep a 12 year old in the backseat for those reasons. Unless there’s a DVD player and TV back there…another stupid invention. Any parent that has that in their car should be ashamed. Talk about boring road trips with no fights from the kids or having to find ways to pass the time by making up games.
January 21, 2008 at 10:58 pm #614168
BonnieParticipantWell, I’m not bashing you CMP because I can remember sitting in the front while my younger sister was bouncing around in the back with no seatbelt on. I don’t even think our old car had a seatbelt back then! (ages and ages ago!)
BUT of course you’re still alive…those who are not can’t say that.
When it comes to my kids I’d rather be safe than sorry. Of course, I don’t know how a 12 year old would want to sit in the back but my kids aren’t at that age yet.
January 22, 2008 at 12:00 am #614169
swimcatMemberLOL- when I have children, they’ll be riding in the backseat so I won’t get a ticket, but I’ll let ’em climb in the windows dukes of hazard style every once in a while so they can see how mom used to get in the car back in the day…
January 22, 2008 at 12:33 am #614170
KenParticipantHalf the cars I have owned did not come with seat belts.
They were pretty simple to fix too and got terrible gas milage.
The 56 dodge pickup was rebuilt as a local drag racer and at that point a full harness and roll cage was installed.
January 22, 2008 at 1:06 am #614171
ErikParticipantm –
That’s funny. Reminds me of my HS days in the late 70’s, we’d do the ‘Starsky and Hutch’ bit with the driver sliding cross the hood as the rest of us dove through the windows…”See ya Huggy Bear”…followed by a “Hit it Starsk!”
January 23, 2008 at 8:56 pm #614172
BeasleyMemberCMP – “Cars are much safer nowadays”?
My daddy drove us around in a ’74 Ford Country Squire station wagon (What a beauty! Wood side panels? You bet!!) That thing was a 4-wheeled battleship. 22 feet of wheels ‘n steel :)
January 23, 2008 at 9:43 pm #614173
AnonymousInactiveI think CMP meant cars are safer now because they are equipped with airbags. Lives are saved when people wear their seatbelts and restrain their childs in infant car seats, booster seat and seatbetls and place them in the back seat.
January 24, 2008 at 3:34 am #614174
CMPParticipantYep, that’s what I meant about safety cinnamon. My friend told me I should buy a new car b/c my ’96 Civic isn’t safe after seeing a mangled one that had been in an accident. My car wouldn’t win a battle with the ’74 Ford Country Squire wagon, but I won’t be wasting my money on a Volvo any time soon.
-
AuthorPosts
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.