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Governor
Jim Geringer
State Capitol
Room 124
200 West 24th Street
Cheyenne, Wyoming 82002
February
8, 2002
Dear
Governor Geringer:
Advocates
for Highway and Auto Safety (Advocates) urges you to take action
to protect children of all ages on Wyoming's roads. Advocates
is an alliance of consumer, health, law enforcement and safety
groups and insurance companies working together to promote the
adoption of highway and motor vehicle safety laws, policies and
programs. As Child Passenger Safety Week begins on February 10,
now is the time to take action that will directly impact Wyoming's
children.
Children
are our most precious commodity. They need constant care and guidance,
including adults taking precautions to keep them free from injury
or even death. Yet, too many children are not receiving the protection
they need, as evidenced by the fact that motor vehicle crashes
are the leading cause of unintentional injury-related death among
children ages 14 and under. 1,875 children died in motor vehicle
crashes in 2000, and many of these deaths and other additional
injuries could have been prevented if the children were properly
restrained.
Parents
and other caretakers look to the government to provide them with
information and guidelines about issues in which they do not have
expertise. Many believe that if they follow the law, they will
be safe. Unfortunately, this is simply not true as Wyoming's child
passenger safety laws are lacking critical protection for children
who have outgrown their car seats but who are not yet big enough
for an adult seat belt to fit them properly.
Comprehensive
laws are needed to help parents learn how to best protect their
children at all ages in age and size-appropriate restraints. Children
up to the age of one and who weigh up to 20 pounds should be restrained
in a federally approved, properly installed and used, rear-facing
child safety seat. Children then graduate to forward-facing child
safety seats until they reach 40 pounds, which is usually around
age four. At that point, children need to sit in booster seats,
which are critical because the improper fit of adult safety belts
can cause a lap belt to ride up over the stomach and a shoulder
belt to cut across the neck, according to the Partners for Child
Passenger Safety. In a crash, this can cause critical or even
fatal injuries.
Advocates
urges you to take the critical step of enacting vital booster
seat legislation to ensure that one more parent does not have
to spend Valentine's Day without their most loved one.
Sincerely,
Catherine
Babics Chase
Director of State Affairs
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