New Kentucky Child Restraint Law Took Effect Tuesday
Friday July 18, 2008
When I was a kid, we used to ride through the streets of Kentucky and Indiana in the back of a pickup. There were no seatbelt laws, and your parents took you out of your car seat as soon as possible. Things have really changed since then. Last Tuesday, new child restraint laws went into effect that require children less than 7 years of age or less than 50 inches tall to remain in a booster seat anytime they're in a car.
The new laws are an effort to combat the serious injuries and deaths of very young children that have occurred across the nation as a result of children not being tall enough to be fully protected by their seatbelt alone. The booster seats are not car seats in the traditional sense; rather, they're simply seats that boost a child up so that their seatbelt lays across them where it needs to in order to protect the child in case of an accident.
A similar law has been in place in Indiana for several years already. The Louisville Metro Police Department will be issuing warnings for a year – tickets will not be given to non-cooperative individuals until July 1st of 2009. In the meantime, if you have a child less than 7 years old or shorter than 4'2", you will want to purchase a child booster seat (Compare Prices) for both their own protection and to comply with the new Kentucky child restraint law.
The new laws are an effort to combat the serious injuries and deaths of very young children that have occurred across the nation as a result of children not being tall enough to be fully protected by their seatbelt alone. The booster seats are not car seats in the traditional sense; rather, they're simply seats that boost a child up so that their seatbelt lays across them where it needs to in order to protect the child in case of an accident.
A similar law has been in place in Indiana for several years already. The Louisville Metro Police Department will be issuing warnings for a year – tickets will not be given to non-cooperative individuals until July 1st of 2009. In the meantime, if you have a child less than 7 years old or shorter than 4'2", you will want to purchase a child booster seat (Compare Prices) for both their own protection and to comply with the new Kentucky child restraint law.
Comments
We’ve had this kind of law in California for at least 25 years now. I know it’s been that long because that’s how old my oldest nephew is. We also have charities in California who provide car seats for families of limited means. Perhaps you could see if anyone is starting one in Kentucky and write about them. You could also write about the need for one if no one is doing it yet.
Actually, the Rotary clubs in this district of Kentucky are being encouraged to look into the opportunity to provide booster seats to families that can’t afford them. So, it probably won’t be long before you’re hearing of that effort.