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Idaho Transportation
Department

Public Affairs Office
P.O. Box 7129
Boise, ID 83707
208.334.8005
Fax: 208.334.8563
Email


New child restraint laws effective July 1

A new law requiring children age 6 and younger to be properly secured when riding in motor vehicles takes effect July 1. Violation of the law will result in a fine of up to $69 to the driver.

Under the new law, children 6 years of age and younger must be properly secured in child safety seats or booster seats. Previously, Idaho’s safety seat law applied only to children up to age 4. Idaho is the 28th state to adopt a booster seat law.

“This law will help protect more of Idaho’s children – especially those age 4 to 6 – by requiring them to be in a booster seat,” said Greg Fredericksen of the Idaho Transportation Department’s Office of Traffic and Highway Safety.

“There’s a critical time when kids have outgrown safety seats but are still too small to use seat belts alone. Booster seats bridge this gap and protect kids in the event of a crash.”
A booster seat elevates a child so a seat belt can fit correctly. Most seat belts are designed to protect an average–sized adult male. Young children using only seat belts are at risk of injuries to the abdomen and spine, can be ejected from the vehicle and are four times more likely to suffer a serious head injury in a crash than if secured in a booster seat.

Nationally, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children 4 to 7 years of age. Between 2001 and 2003 in Idaho, nine children (ages 4 to 8) died and 73 were seriously injured in passenger vehicle crashes. Thirty-five of the injured children were unrestrained.

“The biggest danger to kids this age is the lack of any safety restraint in the car,” Fredericksen added. “Children rely on their parents or caregivers to keep them safe. It is the responsibility and obligation of the driver to make certain the child is safely restrained, whether in a safety seat or a booster seat.”

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recommends that all children should ride in safety or booster seats, using the following guidelines:

  1. REAR-FACING INFANT SEATS in the back seat from birth to at least 1 year old and less than 20 pounds.
  2. FORWARD-FACING CHILD SAFETY SEATS in the back seat from age 1 to about age 4, or 20 to 40 pounds.
  3. BOOSTER SEATS in the back seat from about age 4 to age 6 (as required by the new law), and possibly up to age 8, or taller than 4 feet 9 inches.

Children taller than 4 feet 9 inches may be big enough to wear seat belts alone. All children 12 and younger, or less than 100 pounds, should ride in the back seat and never in front of an air bag.

An OTHS campaign aimed at educating parents and caregivers about the new booster seat law will launch in early July. For more information about the new law and booster seats visit http://www.itd.idaho.gov/ohs/ChildSafety/index.html