NTSB -- BOOSTER SEAT LAWS STILL NEEDED IN ARIZONA, FLORIDA, AND SOUTH DAKOTA, SAYS NTSB

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NTSB PRESS RELEASE

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National Transportation Safety Board

Washington, DC 20594

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 13, 2010

SB-10-35

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BOOSTER SEAT LAWS STILL NEEDED IN ARIZONA, FLORIDA, AND

SOUTH DAKOTA, SAYS NTSB

Laws in 18 Other States Still Do Not Meet NTSB Recommended

Age Limits

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Child passenger safety laws in 21 states and two U.S.

territories still do not meet the safety recommendations

issued by the National Transportation Safety Board. Since

1996, the NTSB has called for state child restraint laws to

cover all children up to 8 years old.

"While we heartily applaud the eight states that enacted or

upgraded child restraint laws in the past year," said

Chairman Deborah A.P. Hersman, "21 states and two

territories still lack robust booster seat laws. This means

that millions of children remain at risk of injury or

fatality every day on our highways."

Florida, with the most lenient child passenger safety law in

the nation, only requires child safety seats for children

age 3 years or younger. The laws in Arizona, South Dakota,

American Samoa and Puerto Rico are only slightly more

protective, covering children age 4 years or younger. Twelve

states (Alabama, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Iowa,

Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire,

Oklahoma, and South Carolina) mandate child restraints for

children age 5 or younger and six states (Connecticut,

Idaho, Kentucky, Mississippi, New Mexico, and North Dakota)

only cover children age 6 or younger.

"We call upon the legislatures of these 21 states and

two territories to pass more robust booster seat laws in

2011 that meet the NTSB recommendations. This action is

critical if we are serious about keeping our youngest

travelers safe on the roadways," continued Chairman Hersman.

As part of the NTSB's efforts to highlight the child

passenger safety issue, a one-day public forum titled "Child

Passenger Safety in the Air and in Automobiles" has been

scheduled for December 9, 2010, and will take place at the

NTSB's Board Room and Conference Center in Washington, D.C.

For more information on the forum, please visit:

www.ntsb.gov/children.

Improve Child Occupant Protection has been on the Safety

Board's Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety

Improvements since 1997. Within the last year Alaska,

Colorado, Delaware, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island

and Texas enacted or upgraded their booster seat laws by

mandating their use up to age 8, as the Board has

recommended.

Additional information about the NTSB's Most Wanted List can

be found on the NTSB website at

http://www.ntsb.gov/Recs/mostwanted/index.htm.

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NTSB Media Contact: Bridget Serchak

202-314-6100

Bridget.serchak@xxxxxxxx

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