Inconvenience should never be an excuse for jeopardizing safety.
Motor vehicle accidents are the No.1 killer of children both in Wisconsin and the United States. Wisconsin government did not pass AB 618 to complicate parents' lives, but rather to save the lives of their children. This is not a piece of legislation that should be questioned — it should be praised for its concern for saving children's lives.
AB 618, proposed by Sen. Carol Roessler, R-Oshkosh, passed the Assembly 23-10 and was signed by Gov. Jim Doyle last month. Currently, children are required to be in car seats until age 4 when they are legally required to wear only a seatbelt.
Effective June 1, children under the age of 8, unless they weigh more than 80 pounds and are more than 4 feet 9 inches tall, will be required to be strapped into car seats or booster seats. This law has been implemented because seat belts are not enough to save a child's life. In fact, since seat belts are made for adults, they do not position themselves properly on small children and can actually cause more injury in the case of a car accident. Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in June 2003 concluded that using a booster seat with a seat belt instead of a seat belt alone reduces the risk of a child's injury in an accident by 59 percent.
The cost for safety can be high, but a simple car booster seat can be as inexpensive as $15, although some models can be more expensive. Many cars today even offer built-in car seats that expand to fit children as they grow.
"This new law will save lives and reduce injuries to children in automobile accidents," said AAA Regional President Steve Bernth in a release. He also emphasized that, "The key now is to educate drivers about the importance of booster seats and get more people using them to better protect their children."
It is not a matter of question, but instead of life and death.
Casey Perry, executive director of the Wisconsin Troopers Association, said that officers would enforce the new law from an educational position. Fines will range from $30 to $75 for parents not properly protecting their children, but will probably start with warnings for their first offense. Besides protecting children in the case of an accident, Mr. Perry hopes that booster seats will help parents cope with everyday driving complications, telling the Wisconsin State Journal, "It [booster seats] gets the children up higher so that they can look out the windows, and they have less interest in moving around."
According to AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, more than 400 children nationwide are killed and 70,000 are injured in car accidents each year. This bill is not a law that parents should want to break.
"Young children prematurely moved to safety belts are four times more likely to suffer serious head injuries during a collision than children in child safety seats or booster seats," according to a release from the advertising council.
Car accidents affect families not only in Wisconsin, but all over the United States. Although it may seem inconvenient for parents to place their child in a car seat instead of just strapping them into a seat belt, it is better than placing them in a coffin. By passing this bill, Wisconsin took another step toward protecting children, and parents should recognize this concern instead of criticizing it. The difference between supporting or opposing this legislation is whether or not people have been affected by situations like this — and it's hard to believe that anyone would be against legislation to protect their children.
Joelle Parks ([email protected]) is a sophomore intending to major in journalism.
