Traffic Accident Injuries Among Children Dropped Following Booster Seat Law

A New York law that required parents to put young children in booster seats while in a motor vehicle has reportedly resulted in an 18% drop in the number of children who suffer a traffic accident injury.

According to a booster seat study published in the medical journal, Pediatrics, requiring parents to use booster seats by law for children who have grown too big for a traditional car seat decreases the number of children ages 4 to 6 who were hurt in traffic accidents from 29 children per 10,000 to 25 children per 10,000. The researchers looked at injury rates two years before a New York state law requiring the booster seats went into effect and compared them to rates three years after the law had been in place.

Booster seats are designed for children who no longer fit in traditional car seats, but are too small to fit properly under a normal seat belt designed for adults. The booster seat lifts the child so that the shoulder restraint falls properly across the shoulder and chest, as opposed to going across the neck when the child is too short.

The decreased risk of injury was seen even though New York only saw the use of booster seats among children 4 to 6 years old increase from 29% before the law went into effect to 50% after. If more parents took precautions to ensure that young children were properly restrained in a booster seat after they have out grown the car seat, even less children would suffer a serious and potentially life-threatening injury from automobile accidents.

Under Maryland’s Child Passenger Safety Law (PDF), every child under the age of 8 must ride in ride in an appropriate car seat, booster seat or other federally approved child safety seat unless they are at least 4 feet, 9 inches tall or weigh more than 65 pounds. Most kids need to ride in a booster seat from about age 4 until age 10-12.