CHILD PASSENGER SAFETY MODEL LAW

Revised: July 2003

Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety
Child Passenger Safety Model Law: Background and Rationale

BACKGROUND

Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates) was motivated to draft a Child Passenger Safety Model Law in an effort to achieve some degree of national uniformity in child passenger safety laws, in response to the increasing need and public demand for booster seat laws, and because of numerous requests for assistance in drafting child passenger safety legislation.

Although currently many states are considering laws specifically targeting the relatively new issue of booster seat use, Advocates drafted a model law that is broader than just the issue of booster seats. The Child Passenger Safety Model Law addresses the need for occupant protection for all children up to age 16. This approach was taken because in addition to booster seat use, many states still have gaps in their child passenger safety laws that leave some children unprotected. Even states without gaps in coverage could strengthen their laws in other ways. While a state is considering improving its child passenger safety laws to include booster seat use, it may also want to close gaps or add other provisions included in the Child Passenger Safety Model Law.

THE NEED FOR STATE LAWS TO INCLUDE BOOSTER SEATS

Every state has a child safety seat law, and all but one have seat belt use laws. Many state legislatures are now considering legislation that extends child restraint requirements to children up to age 6, 7 or 8. While current debate is often focused on booster seats, the most prevalent appropriate restraint for this extended age group, the Child Passenger Safety Model Law avoids the use of the term "booster seat" because there are other products, such as harnesses, that can properly restrain children in this age group. Instead, the Model Law recommends that all children less than 8 years of age or weighing less than 80 pounds be correctly secured in an "appropriate child restraint," whether it is a child safety seat, a booster seat, or another appropriate restraint system. However, for the sake of ease in terminology for this introductory paper, the use of the term "booster seat" is intended to represent booster seats and all other products that can be used to properly restrain older children.

Booster seats are important occupant protection devices for children. When children graduate out of their child safety seats they are usually not yet large enough to properly fit in seat belts that are designed for adults. Belt-positioning booster seats raise a child off the vehicle seat in order to improve the fit of lap and shoulder belts across the lower (pelvis) and upper body (chest) of the child. Booster seats are generally simpler in design and construction than child safety seats. A child safety seat is secured to the vehicle seat using the seat belt, and it has a separate, internal harness that restrains the child. By contrast, a booster seat positions a child so he or she can better fit in a lap and shoulder belt that restrains both the child and the booster seat.

The need for and effectiveness of booster seats has been evaluated by a cutting-edge research project, Partners for Child Passenger Safety (PCPS). PCPS is a collaboration by State Farm Insurance Companies and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), that studies how and why children are injured or killed in motor vehicle crashes. PCPS has found that in 2002, 62% of children between the ages of 4 and 8 years are inappropriately restrained in seat belts. Additionally, PCPS previously found that more than 90% of children in this age group who were seriously injured in a motor vehicle crash were not in a booster seat. Further, these children are four times more likely to suffer a serious head injury while restrained only in a seat belt rather than in a booster seat and a seat belt.

Despite these statistics, only a small percentage of parents and caregivers use booster seats for children who have outgrown child safety seats. One reason for the low use rate of booster seats is that many parents and caregivers are unaware of the crucial need for this intermediate step before their child is large enough to properly fit in a seat belt. Booster seat laws address this lack of knowledge by educating parents and caregivers about the safety need for booster seats. Booster seat laws are an effective means to convey to the public the message that booster seats are necessary for the protection of children who have outgrown child safety seats. Since most parents and caregivers rely on state law to set the standard for proper protection in motor vehicles, substantial increases in the use of booster seats and other restraint devices are unlikely to occur without enactment of state booster seat laws.

PROCEDURE AND RATIONALE FOR THE MODEL LAW

The Model Law is based on the current state of research knowledge in child occupant protection, and understanding of and experience with related issues at the time the Model Law was drafted. The Model Law is intended to be a developmental document that can and should be amended as new research, better data, and safer practices become available.

The Model Law does not attempt to address every issue that will arise as states consider adoption of booster seat laws or changes to child passenger safety laws. Neither is it expected that states will adopt every provision in the Model Law. Each state must address specific circumstances, issues and concerns, as well as differences in state motor vehicle and traffic laws. Thus, the Child Passenger Safety Model Law aims to provide a series of "best practices" in the context of a coherent legislative package as guidance to states as they consider booster seat legislation and improvements to existing child passenger safety laws.

Throughout the drafting process, Advocates solicited the advice of professionals in the field of child passenger safety. However, these individuals do not necessarily agree with every provision contained in the Model Law. Where the Model Law has taken a position that is controversial, subject to differing points of view, or raises a novel issue, the reasoning of the drafters is presented in an explanatory note. For example, the Explanatory Note to Section 3(c) describes the new federal child restraint anchorage system, referred to as Lower Anchors and Tether for Children, or "LATCH," that is required to be in certain seating positions in new vehicles and attached to new add-on child restraints as of September 1, 2002. The LATCH system was developed as an attachment alternative to reduce the rate of child seat misinstallation. The Model Law recommends the use of the child restraint anchorage system, in addition to the vehicle seat belt, as a method for correctly installing LATCH-equipped child restraints. The Model Law does not endorse mandating the use of the LATCH system as the exclusive means of securing child restraints, or as a preferred method to seat belts at this time because the LATCH system is a new method of attachment, the public has little experience with the system, few vehicles in the fleet are now equipped with the LATCH system, and, in some circumstances, vehicle seat belts may still afford a tighter fit for a particular restraint.

Advocates has also determined, after careful analysis, not to include a requirement that, with certain exceptions, all children under age 12 be seated in the back seat. This issue is particularly difficult because in the most severe crashes, the back seat is generally the safest place for children. For this reason, the highway safety community has long recommended to the public that children under 12 should be seated in the back. Exposure of out-of-position children to front passenger-side air bags in the 1990s reinforced the wisdom of this educational message. However, new child restraint products, including sensors that turn off the passenger-side air bag, are being introduced which may make it acceptable to seat children in the front seat. This is particularly true if there are multiple children in a car and decisions about whom to seat where need to be made, and in older vehicles equipped with lap-only belts in the back seat. Although the Model Law does not include a mandatory back seat requirement, Advocates supports the public awareness campaign message to put children in the back seat, which in the great majority of cases is the safest place for children and adults.

CONTACTS

For more information about the Model Law, please contact Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety at 202-408-1711. For information about child passenger safety, please visit:

www.statefarm.com

www.traumalink.chop.edu

www.saferidenews.com

www.carseat.org

www.nhtsa.dot.gov

Purpose.
The purpose of the Child Passenger Safety Model Law is to reduce injuries and fatalities to children by requiring that all children be properly restrained in an appropriate child restraint or vehicle seat belt in all seating positions and at all times while being transported in motor vehicles.

Section 1. Title.
This law may be cited as the Child Passenger Safety Act of [State].

Section 2. Application.
This law applies to drivers of motor vehicles when operating a motor vehicle to transport a child under the age of sixteen (16) years on the public roadways, streets and highways of this State.

Section 3. Definitions.
The following terms have the meaning specified as used in this Act:

(a) "child restraint" or "child restraint system" means any portable or built-in device, except seat belts, designed for use in a motor vehicle to restrain, seat, or position a child, and that meets or exceeds the requirements of the applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards; **

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EXPLANATORY NOTE TO SECTION 3(b):

Because of the wide range in development of child populations, no recommended criterion for child restraint use, be it age, weight, or height, can provide guidance that is correct and appropriate for every child. Manufacturers of child safety seats and other child restraints recommend the use of their products by ranges in average weight, height, or age, or a combination of these parameters. Weight and height provide the most direct measure of child size for determining whether a restraint is appropriate for a particular child. Child age is very useful for legislation and enforcement purposes, but is only an indirect measure of child size because of the wide variation in physical development of children at any particular age or range in age. For this reason, recommendations generally couple age with either weight or height, and sometimes both. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), for example, recommends the use of booster seats for children until they are at least 8 years old or until they reach 4 foot 9 inches in height. Many State laws, however, use age and weight, requiring either or both, as the legal thresholds for appropriate restraint use. The Model Law recommends the use of age (less than 8) or weight (less than 80 pounds) since age is a convenient guide for parents and a readily applicable criterion for enforcement, while weight is closely related to child size and to appropriate restraint fit and use. Height is an equally useful and accurate measure of child size, especially for booster seat requirements, and can be used in place of or in addition to weight as a criterion in legislation.

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(b) an "appropriate" child restraint fits a child when used in accordance with the age and weight recommendations of the child restraint manufacturer;

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EXPLANATORY NOTE TO SECTION 3(c):

The federal motor vehicle safety standards require that certain seating positions in new vehicles must be equipped with a child restraint anchorage system that consists of two lower anchorages and an upper anchorage to which a tether strap can be attached. Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations Standard No. 225. In addition, as of September 1, 2002, all new add-on child restraints, other than car beds, harnesses, and belt positioning seats, are required to be equipped with two permanently attached lower connectors that can fasten to the lower anchorages in the vehicle seat, and an upper tether strap that can be attached to the tether anchorage in the vehicle. Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations Standard No. 213.

The child restraint anchorage system, commonly referred to as Lower Anchors and Tether for Children, or the "LATCH" system, is intended to supplant the use of vehicle seat belts, in most situations, as the primary method for properly installing child restraints. Difficulties encountered in securing child restraints with seat belts, which resulted in a high rate of child restraint misinstallation, led to the adoption of the LATCH system requirements.

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(c) "child restraint anchorage system" means the equipment in a vehicle, other than seat belts, and on a child restraint, specifically designed for attaching the child restraint to the vehicle seat;

(d) "driver" means an individual who operates and is in control of a motor vehicle;

(e) "seat belt" means a restraint consisting of either a combination of a lap belt and shoulder belt, or only a lap belt, attached to the frame of a motor vehicle at a seating position;

(f) "lap belt" means a restraint that consists of a single belt that provides only lower body restraint;

(g) a child is "properly restrained" when the child is correctly secured in a vehicle seat either by a seat belt or in an appropriate child restraint system that is correctly installed in the vehicle;

(h) "correctly installed" means that the child restraint, other than a built-in child restraint is attached to the vehicle seat by means of the child restraint anchorage system or a vehicle seat belt, in a manner that tightly secures the child restraint to the vehicle seat.

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EXPLANATORY NOTE TO SECTION 4:

The intent of the Model Law is to ensure that a good faith attempt has been made to properly restrain all children before the motor vehicle is operated on a public street or highway. The Model Law takes the position that the driver of the vehicle is the proper person to hold legally responsible for this duty since: (1) the driver is in the best position to control the vehicle and require compliance; (2) a parent or custodial relative of a child will not always be present in the vehicle; and, (3) it is the driver of the vehicle who is generally held liable for the operation of the vehicle and is cited for failure to comply with state traffic laws. The driver is expected to exercise due care to properly restrain child passengers.

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Section 4. Restraint Use for Children Under Sixteen.

(a) A driver of a motor vehicle shall not transport a child under the age of sixteen (16) in a motor vehicle operated on the public roadways, streets and highways of this State, unless the child is properly restrained;

(b) a driver of a motor vehicle shall ensure that not more than one child occupies each vehicle seating position equipped with a seat belt;

(c) except as provided in subsections (d), (e) and (f), a child under the age of sixteen (16) must be properly restrained in a vehicle seat belt when transported in a motor vehicle operated on the public roadways, streets and highways of this State;

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EXPLANATORY NOTE TO SECTION 4(d):

The recommendation of 8 years of age reflects child crash injury research data published by Partners for Child Passenger Safety, a research collaboration of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and State Farm Insurance Companies. Advocates recommends the use of 80 pounds as the alternate threshold level for mandatory child restraint use because at that weight limit children begin to reach adult size and are generally better able to properly fit into vehicle seat belts without the use of booster seats or other restraints. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) weight-for-age percentile growth charts (2000), an 8-year-old child who weighs 80 pounds is above the 95th percentile for weight, and a 10-year-old at 80 pounds is between the 75th and 80th percentiles for weight. Similarly, a 10-year-old child who is 4 feet 9 inches tall (the upper limit for booster seats in the NHTSA recommendation) falls between the 75th and 80th percentile for height according to the CDC charts which are available at http://www.cdc.gov/growthcharts.

In changing the numerical age and weight recommendations in July 2003, Advocates has also changed from recommending their combined use as both mandatory requirements, to recommending their use as alternative criterion, for two reasons. First, it may not be practically possible to require or enforce restraint requirements for older children. At 80 pounds, the distribution of child ages broadens so that some children over 13 years of age would be covered by the dual requirement. Mandatory requirements that apply to 12 and 13-year-old children who weigh less than 80 pounds, or children who weigh more than 80 pounds but are less than 8-years-old, may not be politically tenable or pragmatically feasible. Second, a number of States have adopted such a system. No law whether it uses age, weight, or both, will cover all children who should be in booster seats. Beyond the legal requirements, parents must exercise good judgment about the welfare and safety of their children.

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(d) a driver shall not transport a child in a motor vehicle on the public roadways, streets and highways of this State unless the child is correctly secured in an appropriate child restraint that is correctly installed and that meets or exceeds the requirements of the applicable federal motor vehicle safety standards, if the child:

(i) is less than eight (8) years of age, or

(ii) weighs less than eighty (80) pounds;

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EXPLANATORY NOTE TO SECTION 4(e):

Inclusion of lap belts as a means of restraint is controversial. Data indicate that lap belts reduce the incidence of head injury and ejection from the vehicle, a major cause of traffic deaths. However, use of lap belts alone may also cause severe abdominal injuries when the lap belt is improperly positioned over the abdomen and because lap belts allow "submarining" since lap belts alone do not provide upper torso restraint. The Model Law takes the position that while lap belts alone are not optimal for securing children in vehicles, overall the use of lap belts is safer and to be preferred to leaving a child unrestrained. The Model Law permits the use of lap belts by children but only when other children occupy the available lap and shoulder belts (if any).

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(e) a child weighing more than forty (40) pounds may be transported while restrained by a lap belt when:

(i) the vehicle is not equipped with lap and shoulder belts, or

(ii) not including the driver's seat, the vehicle is equipped with one or more lap and shoulder belts that are all being used to properly restrain other children under the age of sixteen (16);

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EXPLANATORY NOTE TO SECTION 4(f):

Since the Model Law specifically enumerates certain exemptions from the child restraint requirements, as a matter of statutory construction, all other possible exemptions that are not enumerated are specifically prohibited under this Model Law.

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(f) a driver is exempt from the requirements of subsections (a) through (e) of this section when transporting a child in a life threatening emergency, or when a child is being transported in an authorized emergency vehicle.

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EXPLANATORY NOTE TO SECTION 5:

This provision recommends the imposition of fines for violations of the Child Passenger Safety Act. However, driver license point systems, used in most States, have been an effective enforcement sanction when used in connection with traffic violations. While the imposition of points as a sanction is generally applied to moving violations directly related to the safe operation of the vehicle, some States have imposed points even for non-safety related violations such as violation of high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane restrictions.

States may also wish to consider a special provision that dedicates fines paid for violations of the Child Passenger Safety Act to child passenger safety educational programs and activities, such as child restraint distribution programs, and for child restraint enforcement.

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Section 5. Penalty.

A driver who violates any provision of this Act shall be subject to penalty as follows:

(a) a driver who violates any provision of this Act shall be subject to a fine of not less than $100 for the first offense;

(b) a driver who violates any provision of this Act shall be subject to a fine of not less than $150 for a second and subsequent offense;

(c) the prescribed fine for a first offense may be reduced or waived upon the presentation to the Court, or other appropriate administrative body, of proof that:

(i) within a reasonable time after the occurrence of the violation, the driver attends and completes a State operated or accredited traffic education class that includes instruction regarding child restraint requirements and the proper use of child restraints; and,

(ii) the driver brings an appropriate child restraint to the traffic education class.

Section 6. Enforcement.

The Child Passenger Safety Act shall be subject to standard, also called primary, enforcement, and no other or additional violation of the traffic code or other law is necessary for the enforcement and prosecution of violations of this Act.

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**The applicable standard is Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 213, Child Restraint Systems, Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 571.213.