Texas' new booster seat law will help save the lives of children by ensuring that they are appropriately restrained in vehicles, according to Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas trauma leaders, who routinely treat the young victims of car crashes. They were part of Texas Child Passenger Safety Advocates, a coalition of more than 50 hospitals, medical organizations, law enforcement agencies and parent groups across the state urged Texas legislators to amend the law to include booster seats.

Senate Bill 61, sponsored by Senator Judith Zaffirini and Representative Allan Vaught, recently became law without the Governor's signature. It requires children under 8-years of age to be in a safety seat unless they are taller than 4 feet 9 inches. Texas is the 47th state, including the District of Columbia, to enact a booster seat law.

"Children need booster seats until the seat belt fits them properly. Without the booster seat, the seat belt can cause serious, even deadly, injuries during a car crash," says Todd Maxson, MD, Trauma Medical Director, Dell Children's. He supports the new law because of his first hand experience with improperly restrained children who were injured, while wearing an ill fitting seat belt, which was the allowable under the old standards.

"The patients I treat, who are restrained by a seat belt alone, suffer serious injuries to the spine and internal organs, known as seat belt syndrome. Parents were devastated when they learned that the law didn't match the best practice. This new law now endorses the best practice and provides the appropriate amount of protection for children in crashes," he adds.

Paula Yuma, the Injury Prevention Manager at Dell Children's, echoes Dr. Maxson's support of the measure. "Car crashes are still the leading cause of death and disability for children," Paula says. "We use every available resource to educate families on how to keep their kids safe, but without the support of appropriate legislation, we could only reach a certain percentage of parents." Paula adds that booster seats are so effective at preventing injury, that "the new law will result in more than 17 million dollar health care savings to the State of Texas, and preserve valuable medical care resources. Most importantly, this law will save children's lives."

Details of Requirements

The law takes effect on September 1, 2009, but only warnings will be issued until June 1, 2010, in order to allow parents enough time to obtain the booster seats they need. After June 1, 2010, law enforcement officers can begin issuing $25 citations for the first offense; second offenses can cost up to $250.

The law does not specify what type of car seat has to be used, but in general, most children outgrow car seats with a harness system at 40 pounds, usually around 4 years of age. Some car seats now have harnesses with higher weight limits. Once a child grows out of the car seat, a booster seat should be used. Booster seats work with the vehicle's lap and shoulder belt. There are two types of booster seats: high back (for use when the car does not have a headrest in the child's seating position) and no-back (for use when the car does have a headrest). Booster seats are widely available at area retailers and range in cost from $15 to $45.

Tips For Child Safety in Cars

Safe Kids Austin, a city-wide coalition dedicated to preventing child injury, provides frequent child safety seat inspection events. At these events parents can work with Certified Child Passenger Safety Technicians to ensure their child safety seats and booster seats fit properly and are installed correctly. These events are listed on the Dell Children's website, www.dellchildrens.net.

Safe Kids Austin recommends the following tips for riding safely in the car:

• Restrain all children in their appropriate car seat, booster seat or seat belt on every trip.
• Place kids between approximately 40 and 80 pounds in a booster seat.
• Never put shoulder belts under kids' arms or behind their backs. This could result in serious injuries in the event of a crash.
• Never boost kids with pillows, books or towels. These won't keep kids safe in a crash.
• If your car's seat back is lower than the child's ears, use a high-back booster seat. If your car's seat back is higher than the child's ears, use a no-back booster seat.
• Put kids in the back seat. Children are 36 percent less likely to die in a crash when restrained in the back.

Even more detailed information on child passenger safety is available on the SAFE KIDS USA Web site.