ACTION ALERT

Action Needed to Support AB 618 and SB 305 and Protect Child Passengers

**UPDATE** AB 618 and SB 305 Passed Out Of Joint Finance Committee

(Please forward this to anyone you know in Wisconsin)

AB 618, a bill sponsored by Representative Jerry Petrowski (R-86th), and an identical bill, SB 305, sponsored by Senator Carol Roessler (R-18th), are both up for consideration this month in the Wisconsin state legislature. Both bills will address child passenger booster seats, and the requirements for their use. Specifically, these bills address long overdue safety standards surrounding child booster seat use and create a tiered structure, according to age and size, of restraint requirements for transporting children under the age of eight in a motor vehicle. These bills, coupled with education and enforcement, will have a tremendous impact on the safety of child passengers.

On Wednesday, October 26, the Joint Finance Committee of the Wisconsin State Legislature passed both AB 618 and SB 305 on a 14-2 vote. Both bills travel now to the full floor in both the Assembly and Senate for consideration, sometime within the next week.

• Please call and email your representatives and urge them to support AB 618 and SB 305
  
• Find your legislator's phone number here: www.legis.state.wi.us/

TALKING POINTS

BOOSTER SEAT SAFETY FACTS

According to Partners for Child Passenger Safety (PCPS), which has conducted the first comprehensive study devoted exclusively to pediatric motor vehicle injury, inappropriate restraint of children in adult seat belts results in a 3.5-fold increased risk of significant injury and a more than fourfold increased risk of significant head/brain injury. (PCPS, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, State Farm Insurance Companies, 2003)

Using a booster seat with a seat belt instead of a seat belt alone reduces a child's risk of injury in a crash by 59%. (PCPS, 2003)

Motor vehicle crashes remain the leading cause of accidental injury-related death among children ages 14 and under. Seventy-five percent of motor vehicle crashes occur within 25 miles of home, and 60 percent of crashes occur on roads with posted speed limits of 40 mph or less. (SafeKids, 2005)

The use of belt-positioning booster seats lowers the risk of injury to children in crashes by 59 percent compared to the use of adult seat belts. The distribution of free seats accompanied by educational training can dramatically increase the use of booster seats among children ages 4 to 6. (SafeKids, 2005)

Restraint use is lower in rural areas and low-income communities. Lack of access to affordable car seats contributes to a lower use rate among low-income families. However, 95 percent of low-income families who own a car seat use it. (SafeKids, 2005)

BOOSTER SEAT LAW FACTS

Twenty-eight states and the District of Columbia have booster seat laws.

A 2004 Harris poll found that 84% of Americans support all states having booster seat laws protecting children ages 4 to 8. (Lou Harris, for Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, 2004)

Child restraint laws have been proven to increase use rates. According to NHTSA's 2002 data, restraint use for children from birth to age 1 was 99%, and from ages 1 to 4 was 94%. However, both SafeKids and PCPS estimate that only 19% of 4-7 year-olds are riding properly restrained in booster seats. (SafeKids, 2002, Partners for Child Passenger Safety Interim Report 2002, updated 2003)

For further information, contact Jeremy Gunderson, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety,
202-408-1711 or jgunderson@saferoads.org

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Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety is a coalition of consumer, health, safety and insurance companies working together to advance highway and auto safety.