Car Seat Safety

Last week was the end of the school year, and with that comes summer play dates. One of the mom's offered to pick up my daughter for an end of year party at her house. I asked if she needed my booster seat or if she had enough. I was shocked when she told me that her 6 year old, 40 pound daughter doesn't use one.

I will chalk it up to the fact that there is no real publicity out there about booster seats for older children. There is a law in NY that regulates child seatbelt, car seat, and safety restraints.

"Every child under age 16 in the vehicle must use a safety restraint. If under age four, he or she must be properly secured in a federally-approved child safety seat that is attached to a vehicle by a safety belt or universal child restraint anchorage (LATCH) system. A child under age four who weighs more than 40 pounds may be restrained in a booster seat with a lap and shoulder belt. A child of age 4, 5, 6 or 7, must use a booster seat with lap and shoulder belt or a child safety seat (The child and safety restraint system must meet the height and weight recommendations of the restraint manufacturer.)"

If you don't follow the law, you can pay a pretty hefty fine. But more importantly, this is for the safety of your child. Anyone under 100 lbs. can be injured by seatbelts and airbags, so extra care needs to be taken with children. Even if you are a "Good Driver," I have seen many accidents where the only thing the driver did wrong was to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.

So please, take the time to use a car seat, booster seat, and the proper seat belt. And make sure that you follow the directions to install them properly.