Texas Folks - Any word on the new booster seat law?

[MomToEliEm]

Wasn't the new booster seat law in Texas suppose to go before the senate and house sometime within the next couple months? I recall 2 years ago, the bills were already filed and in committee by this time. I tried searching the state government website for any new bills filed but didn't see anything.

For those that are following the push for a Texas booster seat law, is it still in the works for this session or do we have to wait 2 more years?

[babygirlsmom1005]

I found this article that it's suppose to be reintroduced this year sometime

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/state/Texas_urged_to_improve_booster-seat_law.html

[MomToEliEm]

I noticed the "dates of interest" on the Texas government website shows:

Friday, March 13, 2009 (60th day)
Deadline for filing bills and joint resolutions other than
local bills, emergency appropriations, and bills that
have been declared an emergency by the governor
[House Rule 8, Sec. 8; Senate Rule 7.07(b)]

I guess if it doesn't get filed by this Friday, it will not be in the works for getting passed this year. Since the legislature only meets every 2 years, I guess this means no booster seat law for next year either.

[MomToEliEm]

OK, I went digging some more and found that it filed.

Senate:
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=81R&Bill=SB61

House
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=81R&Bill=HB528

I guess there is still hope then that it may pass.

Here is a part of the bill as it was submitted:

(a) A person commits an offense if the person operates a passenger vehicle, transports a child who is younger than eight years of age, unless the child is taller than four feet, nine inches, and does not keep the child secured during the operation of the vehicle in a child passenger safety seat system according to the instructions of the manufacturer of the safety seat system.

[ketchupqueen]

YAY. That is a great law, I hope it passes! I mean, no age requirement would be better but it's pretty darned good! If that passed TX would go from one of the worst carseat laws to one of the best laws in the country. (And I would have some hope that my SIL-- not the one I bought seats for, the other one-- would maybe keep her son in a booster until 8 instead of taking him out when he hits 36 inches, though I have no hope of ERF or EH despite repeated attempts.)

[teacher01]

I really hope that this passes. My son is going to be 4 at the end of the month, and I can't imagine him riding in just the seat belt like many of the kids here do. I can't even imagine him in a booster. PLEAE LET IT PASS!!!!:D

[ketchupqueen]

How tall is he? IIRC the law is 5 or 36 inches, not 4?

[mykidsmylife]

I hope it passes as well. I was p-d off when it was shot down the last time.
I know a lot of moms who would be mad if this passed. Oh Well!

[MomToEliEm]

How tall is he? IIRC the law is 5 or 36 inches, not 4?

Actually, as long as the child is 36" (most kids are 36" at 3 years of age), then he doesn't have to be in anything but a regular seatbelt.

The law used to be better then it is now. They revised it and made it worse. Hopefully it will be revised again to made a little better this year.

Here was the old wording in the law prior to 2005:

A person commits an offense if the person operates a passenger vehicle, transports a child who is younger than four years of age or less than 36 inches in height, and does not keep the child secured during the operation of the vehicle in a child passenger safety seat system according to the instructions of the manufacturer of the safety seat system.

This read:

A: Child less then 4 years old
B: Child less then 36 inches in height
C: Must ride in a carseat

If A or B then C

If either A or B is true, then C must occur. This means that a 3 years old must ride in a seat regardless of how tall they are.
True or False = True
True or True = True
False or False = False

Now in 2005, they changed the wording

A person commits an offense if the person operates a passenger vehicle, transports a child who is younger than five years of age and less than 36 inches in height and does not keep the child secured during the operation of the vehicle in a child passenger safety seat system according to the instructions of the manufacturer of the safety seat system.

Now it is
A: child less the 5 years old
B: Child is less then 36 inches
C: Must be in a carseat

Law reads
If A and B, then C
True and True = True
True and False = False
False and False = False

Only if both A and B are true, does C need to occur. If A or B is false then the entire conditional statement is false and C does not have to occur. It was actually better the way it was prior to them touching it.

Here is some documentation they published after it was first put out that does in indicate that a 36 inch tall 2 year old does not legally need to be in a carseat
http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/director_staff/public_information/pr090705.htm

[teacher01]

I thought it was 4...my mistake. DS is 41 inches but only 34 lbs. Definitely too small to be out of a car seat, although I guess it is legal. I think that is what scares me the most. I just really hope this passes so that I don't have to fight with DS when he is still in a seat and none of his friends are.

[ketchupqueen]

Actually, as long as the child is 36" (most kids are 36" at 3 years of age), then he doesn't have to be in anything but a regular seatbelt.


That's what I said. ;) "Or," not "and."

[Morganthe]

Actually, as long as the child is 36" (most kids are 36" at 3 years of age), then he doesn't have to be in anything but a regular seatbelt.


Yeah, I was shocked to learn this when we moved here. DD was 36" on her SECOND birthday. Three is bad enough, but two? :eek:

I don't know what's going on, but I see more and more kids under 10 & even 5 lately just riding in regular seatbelts and plenty in the front seats with air bags. Either no one cares or no one knows what is safe. I think the police surrendered to the sheer mass of ignorance to fight other more clearly stated laws. I have a hunch that this ultra religious population believes that God will always protect their children against the laws of physics. (sigh)

11 more days and I won't have to see these things over and over and over and over every time I drive out my garage. :o

[CelestinoZ]

I hate to bring up a month old thread, but there was a hearing scheduled today on SB 61. The vote on the bill was all affirmative. Since all votes were affirmative, the bill was recommended for local & uncontested calendar. The next step is for the bill to be printed and distributed, after that it will be placed on the local & uncontested calendar. HB 528 is currently out of committee and has been sent to calendars. Both bills are making good progress and may get passed this time around. I'll try to keep updates posted about both Bills. I too was real upset when the bills’ didn’t pass two years ago. My family thought I was dumb to tell my sister to keep my then 6 year old niece, who was only 4’1” at the time and weighed about 62 pounds.

And also regardless of the laws, it is best to keep kids in a booster until they can safely fit in an adult seat belt. The recommended guidelines set by the National Traffic Safety Administration sets the standard at 4’9” or 8 years old. After that they should ride in the back seat using a seat belt. The booster seat I use is a Britax Frontier, this seat allows you to use the harness up to 80 pounds, and you can use the booster until your child is 100 pounds.

[Gypsy]

I hate to bring up a month old thread, but there was a hearing scheduled today on SB 61. The vote on the bill was all affirmative. Since all votes were affirmative, the bill was recommended for local & uncontested calendar. The next step is for the bill to be printed and distributed, after that it will be placed on the local & uncontested calendar. HB 528 is currently out of committee and has been sent to calendars. Both bills are making good progress and may get passed this time around. I'll try to keep updates posted about both Bills. I too was real upset when the bills’ didn’t pass two years ago. My family thought I was dumb to tell my sister to keep my then 6 year old niece, who was only 4’1” at the time and weighed about 62 pounds.

And also regardless of the laws, it is best to keep kids in a booster until they can safely fit in an adult seat belt. The recommended guidelines set by the National Traffic Safety Administration sets the standard at 4’9” or 8 years old. After that they should ride in the back seat using a seat belt. The booster seat I use is a Britax Frontier, this seat allows you to use the harness up to 80 pounds, and you can use the booster until your child is 100 pounds.

Welcome to the boards!

You are preaching to the choir here! We all fully support, recommend and practice best practice with our own children. Stick around, I think you'll like it here :)

[MomToEliEm]

I hate to bring up a month old thread, but there was a hearing scheduled today on SB 61. The vote on the bill was all affirmative. Since all votes were affirmative, the bill was recommended for local & uncontested calendar. The next step is for the bill to be printed and distributed, after that it will be placed on the local & uncontested calendar. HB 528 is currently out of committee and has been sent to calendars. Both bills are making good progress and may get passed this time around. I'll try to keep updates posted about both Bills. I too was real upset when the bills’ didn’t pass two years ago. My family thought I was dumb to tell my sister to keep my then 6 year old niece, who was only 4’1” at the time and weighed about 62 pounds.


I thought I was the only one who was keeping close ties on where those bills were. I even watched the video from today's senate committee hearing. Nothing special and all voted for it. The house committee meeting was much more interesting.

Hopefully since it made it out of committee for both the house and senate, it may actually pass.

[celtic1885]

I thought I was the only one who was keeping close ties on where those bills were. I even watched the video from today's senate committee hearing. Nothing special and all voted for it. The house committee meeting was much more interesting.

Hopefully since it made it out of committee for both the house and senate, it may actually pass.


Add me to the list watching the bills. This came up at our check two weeks ago. Hopefully this will get my niece out of her lbb. :eek: She's smaller than my dd2.:thumbsdown:

[MomToEliEm]

Just wanted to update this old post to tell anyone interested that the Senate Bill 61 was heard on the Senate floor today and passed
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=81R&Bill=SB00061

I guess now we are waiting on the House to vote on it (already out of committee so it just needs to go to the floor) and then hopefully Texas may move from having one of the worst carseat laws in the nation to having a one of the best.

[teacher01]

PLEASE PASS!!!! Does anyone know when it will go into affect if it does pass? I see sooooo many small children in the front seat with nothing!! It is just so sad!!

[MomToEliEm]

PLEASE PASS!!!! Does anyone know when it will go into affect if it does pass? I see sooooo many small children in the front seat with nothing!! It is just so sad!!

The law would go into effect September 1, 2009, though no one will be prosecuted until after June 1, 2010 (they will only get a warning before that date).

[mburks26]

I didnt even know it was trying to be passed
as of now I have not heard anything about it passing
its just to keep them in something until 8 100lbs and 4 ft 9 right doesnt say they can not use a booster until 4 and 40lbs
it would still be legal to put a 1 yr old in a booster if they are 30lbs right or did i mis read something

[MomToEliEm]

I didnt even know it was trying to be passed
as of now I have not heard anything about it passing
its just to keep them in something until 8 100lbs and 4 ft 9 right doesnt say they can not use a booster until 4 and 40lbs
it would still be legal to put a 1 yr old in a booster if they are 30lbs right or did i mis read something

It doesn't make any indication of what minimum age a child can move to a booster in the law. It does state to use the child restraints (harnessed seats and boosters) in accordance with manufacturer instructions though so if the booster states an age or height limit, they would have to follow that.

[mburks26]

ok thanks

[MomToEliEm]

For those familiar with the actual formality of making a law, can you tell me if the Texas booster seat law has passed (all except for governor signature)?

From looking at the two bills House Bill 528, and senate bill 61, it looks like SB61 was approved now by senate and house and when you look at the status on the bill, it says it just needs to go to the govenor for signature.

On the House Bill side, it says that the house considered SB61 in lieu of HB528. Does that mean that as long as SB61 passed, there shouldn't be any more roadblocks (I can't see the governor not signing it), or does the amended SB have to go back to the senate for approval (they added some court cost type info to the bill).

Here are the two bills:
Senate Bill 61 (http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=81R&Bill=SB61)
House Bill 528 (http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=81R&Bill=HB528)

[sirrahn]

For those familiar with the actual formality of making a law, can you tell me if the Texas booster seat law has passed (all except for governor signature)?


Hmmm...unfortunately I don't see where it's passed the House. It says "Laid on the table subject to call" which if I'm not mistaken, means that they won't be discussing it further unless someone calls a vote to take it off the table.

Where did you see something about going to Perry for signature? Honestly, even if it does pass the House, I'm not sure his signing it is a done deal.

[MomToEliEm]

Hmmm...unfortunately I don't see where it's passed the House. It says "Laid on the table subject to call" which if I'm not mistaken, means that they won't be discussing it further unless someone calls a vote to take it off the table.

Where did you see something about going to Perry for signature? Honestly, even if it does pass the House, I'm not sure his signing it is a done deal.

If you look at the Bill Stages on Senate Bill 61, it is showing it at the "Awaiting Governer" stage and the next stage is "Bill Becomes Law".
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/BillStages.aspx?LegSess=81R&Bill=SB61

In the line right below "Laid on the table subject to call" on HB528, it says "SB61 Companion considered in lieu of" so I wasn't sure if the house just adopted the senate version and are dropping the house bill.

[TXAggieTech]

What kind of time frame is there then? Still a chance of it passing this year?

[sirrahn]

If you look at the Bill Stages on Senate Bill 61, it is showing it at the "Awaiting Governer" stage and the next stage is "Bill Becomes Law".
http://www.legis.state.tx.us/BillLookup/BillStages.aspx?LegSess=81R&Bill=SB61

In the line right below "Laid on the table subject to call" on HB528, it says "SB61 Companion considered in lieu of" so I wasn't sure if the house just adopted the senate version and are dropping the house bill.

Ok...cool! Either that or they've just voted, and it's just not showing up on the House page yet. I'll be interested to see what Perry does with it. This sort of thing is just so liberal:rolleyes:

ETA....I just noticed that there's an H by today's record vote on the SB61 page and all the other actions down to received from Senate. You must be right!

[MomToEliEm]

What kind of time frame is there then? Still a chance of it passing this year?

Here are the dates of interest in terms of the texas legislature, though to me, it seems pretty confusing. If there is still more work to be done on this bill, I think it still has some time (end of may). As long as the governor signs it by June 1, 2009, then we will have a new law as of Aug 31, 2009 (though it won't be enforced until the following year).
http://www.tlc.state.tx.us/gtli/sessions/dates.html

[MomToEliEm]

From reading some of the news articles talking about these bills, it appears that the booster law is not a done deal yet. It still has to go back to the senate for a vote since the house ammended the bill. Hopefully it doesn't have to go back to committee before it gets to the senate floor as we are running out of time on this bill. Every time this bill goes back and forth, I fear that more opposition will come to the law since the word is spreading and it may not pass once everyone votes on it.

Here is the blurb in from an article talking about this booster seat bill:

Although the Senate already passed the bill — Senate Bill 61 by Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo — the House made minor changes, and the differences will have to be worked out before the bill could go to the governor.

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/05/12/0512safetyseats.html

[CTPDMom]

If you read some of the local news websites for Texas the comments...oy!

Things like: We have 5 children and no money and I'll be darned if I'm gonna spend money for another seat for my 2 year old who is outgrowing his car seat let alone on booster seats for my 5 and 7 year olds...how dare they tell me what to do...my kids are safe like they are, the seat belt is good enough for me...blah, blah, blah...

:rolleyes:

No doubt the legislature is being bombarded with THAT kind of stuff. I hope all you CPS advocates there are bombarding them with the GOOD stuff!! :D

[BookMama]

If you read some of the local news websites for Texas the comments...oy!

Things like: We have 5 children and no money and I'll be darned if I'm gonna spend money for another seat for my 2 year old who is outgrowing his car seat let alone on booster seats for my 5 and 7 year olds...how dare they tell me what to do...my kids are safe like they are, the seat belt is good enough for me...blah, blah, blah...

:rolleyes:

No doubt the legislature is being bombarded with THAT kind of stuff. I hope all you CPS advocates there are bombarding them with the GOOD stuff!! :D

Oh yeah, we got all that same crap when the Michigan booster law was in the works/newly passed last year. I got to the point where I simply had to stop reading comments - they were all the same anyway. :mad: :rolleyes:

[sirrahn]

If you read some of the local news websites for Texas the comments...oy!

Things like: We have 5 children and no money and I'll be darned if I'm gonna spend money for another seat for my 2 year old who is outgrowing his car seat let alone on booster seats for my 5 and 7 year olds...how dare they tell me what to do...my kids are safe like they are, the seat belt is good enough for me...blah, blah, blah...

:rolleyes:

No doubt the legislature is being bombarded with THAT kind of stuff. I hope all you CPS advocates there are bombarding them with the GOOD stuff!! :D

Yeah...I'm not looking because I've heard it already:thumbsdown:. It doesn't help either that our governor generally has that sort of attitude as well.

[CelestinoZ]

I just got off the phone with Senator Davis's Office. They said that there should be a vote on SB 61, either today or tomorrow. So let's hope this bill doesn't get pushed off like it did two years ago. There's only two and a half weeks left in the session. So call your senator and tell them you support this bill.

[MomToEliEm]

I just sent my two local Senators an e-mail. They voted for the bill earlier and hopefully they will continue to vote for it.

The last senate vote on this bill, the following votes were taken:

Yeas: Averitt, Carona, Davis, Deuell, Duncan, Ellis, Eltife, Fraser, Gallegos, Harris, Hegar, Hinojosa, Huffman, Lucio, Nichols, Ogden, Patrick, Shapiro, Shapleigh, Uresti, Van de Putte, Watson, West, Whitmire, Williams, Zaffirini

Nays: Estes, Jackson, Nelson, Seliger, Wentworth

[TXAggieTech]

Just got off the phone with Senator Ogden's office and she said that it had passed House and Senate and just needed to be signed by Perry before June something.

Hopefully that is true!

Can we call Perry and express support for the bill or do you not do that?

[CelestinoZ]

Just got off the phone with Senator Ogden's office and she said that it had passed House and Senate and just needed to be signed by Perry before June something.

Hopefully that is true!

Can we call Perry and express support for the bill or do you not do that?

I don't see any reason why you shouldn't call Perry. After all, they work for us.

[TXAggieTech]

If anyone else wants to contact Perry here is a link to the info to either call or send through his web page.

http://governor.state.tx.us/contact/contact.aspx

[CelestinoZ]

Here are the dates of interest in terms of the texas legislature, though to me, it seems pretty confusing. If there is still more work to be done on this bill, I think it still has some time (end of may). As long as the governor signs it by June 1, 2009, then we will have a new law as of Aug 31, 2009 (though it won't be enforced until the following year).
http://www.tlc.state.tx.us/gtli/sessions/dates.html

The governor actually has until June 21st to sign any bill that was passed during the regular session.

[tanyaandallie]

I'm happy to see this as I was looking into it over the weekend. I'm receiving updates from our coalition but when googling could not figure out exactly what had happened since our last update. PLEASE let this be a done deal. We need this to happen in Texas. Our current legislation could not be worse.

[tanyaandallie]

I spoke to soon. Just got an update from our coalition -

Please see below for an update on the booster seat bill from Paula Yuma in
Austin. In summary, the bill passed the House with an unofficial vote of 99
yeas, 44 nays, 2 non-votes...which gives us a little over 2/3 votes. This is
good news, but we are still waiting on the Governor's signature before we
celebrate.

Here is Paula's email:

"Great news…SB 61 has passed the Texas House! The bill will now go back to the
Senate to approve an amendment regarding how the fines are assessed and
appropriated. We do not expect any snafus in that process. The bill will then
go to the Governor's desk.

Representative Vaught was extremely well prepared, and he did a tremendous job
explaining and defending the bill on the House floor. I highly recommend
watching the debate. To do so, visit this link:
http://www.house.state.tx.us/media/chamber/81.htm. Scroll to the bottom and
select the morning session on May 11th. The debate begins at about 2:01. The
vote is recorded and available online:
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/Actions.aspx?LegSess=81R&Bill=SB61

Thank you to all of you for your hard work. This is a tremendous achievement.
Please stay tuned – you may receive further action alerts as we hit the final
stretch. Please communicate this good news to your colleagues and local
advocates."

[Unregistered]

I hate to burst everyones bubble but laws like this will never solve the problem. Those who choose to be un-safe will continue so. The governemnt can't regulate us to be safe. While we're at it lets ban alcohol to prevent drunk driving. Oh wait banning alcohol was tried already. Driving the speed limit, not talking on a cell phone, not playing with the radio, all these are much more likely to keep our children safe than forcing them to use a carseat until the are 4'9".

[CelestinoZ]

I hate to burst everyones bubble but laws like this will never solve the problem. Those who choose to be un-safe will continue so. The governemnt can't regulate us to be safe. While we're at it lets ban alcohol to prevent drunk driving. Oh wait banning alcohol was tried already. Driving the speed limit, not talking on a cell phone, not playing with the radio, all these are much more likely to keep our children safe than forcing them to use a carseat until the are 4'9".

First, before you keep to the opinion that car seats up to 57 inches is unnecessary, please watch this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azgBhZfcqaQ It's a video put out by the Kyle David Miller Foundation; it is put out to educate the public on the neccessity of a 5 point harness. I encourage you to watch the entire video, but the part I want you to see is at about 2:53 into the video, it's only a 4 minute video. If you think your child is safe enough in a booster alone, watch this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2kO8AxKbrM this video just reinforces the importance of a 5 point harness.

[MomToEliEm]

I hate to burst everyones bubble but laws like this will never solve the problem. Those who choose to be un-safe will continue so. The governemnt can't regulate us to be safe. While we're at it lets ban alcohol to prevent drunk driving. Oh wait banning alcohol was tried already. Driving the speed limit, not talking on a cell phone, not playing with the radio, all these are much more likely to keep our children safe than forcing them to use a carseat until the are 4'9".

Yes, there are some that will disobey the law and continue to not put their kids in booster seats (or even seatbelts which is already against the law). This law isn't aimed at those people who choose not to obey. This law is aimed at those parents who look at the law for best practice on what they are suppose to do for their kids. The parents who see that the law currently states that their 3 year old can be in a regular seatbelt feel it must be safe to do so since the law wouldn't tell them to do something unsafe. Some parents have to be told "it is the law" in order to get them to follow it. Without that law in place, too many young kids are not properly boostered, and some are getting injured or killed.

All the newest research shows how important it is to keep kids boostered until they are 8-12 years old and 4'9" tall. This new law is just there to help parents realize that this is what they should be doing in their cars.

This law may be an inconvenience to some, but it will save some kids lives because they will be in boosters when previously they were not. I hate that we have to have carseat/booster/seatbelt laws at all. People should already know that these things are important and know to use them at all times. Since that isn't happening though, that is where the law comes in to tell everyone that it is required.

[CelestinoZ]

They voted on the bill today, and the Senate agreed on the amendments made in the House. So it looks like the bill might just pass this time around; it just needs to be signed by the governor.

[ketchupqueen]

Woo-frickin' hoo! Yaaaaay! Maybe my SIL will be more receptive than the last time I brought stuff up. :whistle:

[MomToEliEm]

They voted on the bill today, and the Senate agreed on the amendments made in the House. So it looks like the bill might just pass this time around; it just needs to be signed by the governor.


That is great news! The governer doesn't actually even have to sign the bill for it to become law. He just has to not veto it (hopefully he won't) before his June deadline. I am pretty confident now that we will have a new law come August. I can't see the governer vetoing the bill since it was approved with little issues in both the house and senate.

[ketchupqueen]

I sent an e-mail to my TX relatives urging them to contact Gov. Perry to voice their support. :)

[celtic1885]

HAPPY DAY! here's hoping we'll have a new law come August!
Ketchupqueen - I hear you! my older brother has my niece (similar stats, same age as dd2) in a nbb. :(

[tanyaandallie]

The utter CRAP I've read on some blogs is killing me.

[Unregistered]

Can someone please confirm that I'm interpreting the proposed law correctly. The age (8yrs) / height requirements (4'9") are either or...correct...?


Thanks,

Proud parent of 2 darling daughters 12yrs & 7yrs.

[MomToEliEm]

Can someone please confirm that I'm interpreting the proposed law correctly. The age (8yrs) / height requirements (4'9") are either or...correct...?


Thanks,

Proud parent of 2 darling daughters 12yrs & 7yrs.

If a child is 8 years old, yet not 4'9" tall, he is not required to be in a booster.
If a child is 4'9" tall, yet not 8 years old, he is not required to be in a booster.

Even though the law shows 8 years old as the minimum, most kids are not physically capable to sit in a regular seatbelt until anywhere from 8-12 years of age. The 5-step test (http://www.carseat.org/Boosters/630.htm) is a better guide for knowing when a child can sit in a regular seatbelt.

[CelestinoZ]

Can someone please confirm that I'm interpreting the proposed law correctly. The age (8yrs) / height requirements (4'9") are either or...correct...?


Thanks,

Proud parent of 2 darling daughters 12yrs & 7yrs.

That's correct, so if your 7 year old is 4'9" or taller then they don't have to be in a booster, but I would encourage you to keep you child in a 5 point harness as long as possible. Remember, the 4'9" is only a recommendation. When I ride in my parent's car, the seat belt still runs across my neck and I'm 60 inches tall, but I'm also 110 pounds. But children are much different, most 7 year olds only weight about 65 pounds, and if their involved in a collision they'll most likely still have injuries, because the force tosses them around. I wish they would of also included a minimum weight for children to still be restrained in the bill.

FYI, the bill was signed in both the house and the senate today, and it was sent to Gov.Perry's office.

[Unregistered]

Thanks for your responses...this was very helpful. My 7 yr old is very petite for her age and will be in a booster seat for at least the 7 months she has left until her 8th b-day and probably even beyond that. She's begging to be able to sit like a "big girl" like her sister...but I have to do what I think is in her best interest.

[Jeanum]

Hi, I hope you'll consider using a child restraint/booster for your kiddo beyond her 8th birthday because state booster/child restraint laws, even the newly enacted laws or pending legislation that extend the requirement for child restraints, don't fully take into account when a child properly fits the adult sized vehicle seatbelt alone. This 5-step test at http://www.carseat.org/Boosters/630.htm, plus one additional 6th step that we like to add to it, is a much more accurate checklist than a state law for determining when a child properly fits the vehicle seatbelt alone to forgo using a booster seat:


The 5-Step Test.

1. Does the child sit all the way back against the auto seat?
2. Do the child's knees bend comfortably at the edge of the auto seat?
3. Does the belt cross the shoulder between the neck and arm?
4. Is the lap belt as low as possible, touching the thighs?
5. Can the child stay seated like this for the whole trip?

If you answered "no" to any of these questions, your child needs a booster seat to make both the shoulder belt and the lap belt fit right for the best crash protection. Your child will be more comfortable, too!


The additional step 6 we like to add to the above 5 steps is that the child's feet rest on the vehicle floor, which helps keep her/him from slouching down and submarining under the seatbelt.