NTSB -- NTSB PRAISES ALASKA AND TEXAS FOR ENACTING BOOSTER SEAT LAWS, URGES ARIZONA, FLORIDA AND SOUTH DAKOTA TO TAKE ACTION

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NTSB PRESS RELEASE

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National Transportation Safety Board

Washington, DC 20594

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 18, 2009

SB-09-29

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NTSB PRAISES ALASKA AND TEXAS FOR ENACTING BOOSTER SEAT

LAWS, URGES ARIZONA, FLORIDA AND SOUTH DAKOTA TO TAKE ACTION

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The National Transportation Safety Board today commended

Alaska and Texas for enacting booster seat legislation.

These laws mandate that children between the ages of four

and eight and less than 4'9" use a booster seat in motor

vehicles.

"With booster seat laws now on the books in Alaska and

Texas, only Arizona, Florida and South Dakota do not mandate

proper restraints for children within our 50 states," said

Acting Chairman Mark V. Rosenker. "The Safety Board urges

these three states to join the rest of the country in

requiring the additional protection that booster seats

provide to our smallest travelers."

Improve Child Occupant Protection has been on the Safety

Board's Most Wanted List of Safety Improvements since 1997.

Specifically, the NTSB made the following recommendation to

the states and territories regarding child occupant safety:

ensure that children up to eight years old are required by

each state's mandatory child restraint use law to use child

restraint systems and booster seats.

Earlier this year Ohio and Minnesota also enacted booster

seat legislation, bringing the total to 47 states and the

District of Columbia that require the use of booster seats.

In addition to Arizona, Florida and South Dakota, booster

seat laws are still absent in American Samoa, Guam and the

U.S. Virgin Islands.

Of the 47 states that require booster seats, only 25

(including all four laws enacted in 2009) mandate their use

through age 7, as the Board recommended.

Additional information about the NTSB's Most Wanted List can

be found on the NTSB website at http://www.ntsb.gov/

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NTSB Media Contact: Bridget Serchak

202-314-6100

Bridget.serchak@xxxxxxxx

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