Booster seat up to age 8 a must
Obviously, the answer isn't to leave youngsters rattling around the car.
Arizona should join the 47 other states that require a booster seat through at least age 8. Raising a child's position puts the seat belts in the right place, lining up with the pelvis, clavicle and other bones that can hold up under the impact of an auto crash.
State law requires passengers younger than 16 to be properly secured with seat belts. Under current law, parents quite reasonably assume that the proper time to stop using a booster seat is age 5.
But research shows that is wrong. For children 5 to 8 years old, using booster seats reduces the risk of injury by 59 percent, compared with using seat belts alone. Children using seat belts alone are four times more likely to suffer head and brain injuries in an accident than those who are sitting in booster seats.
There's no defensible reason for leaving our children at risk.
House Bill 2154 would require an appropriate safety seat up to age 8 unless a child is more than 4 feet 9 inches tall. Hospitals, pediatricians, other medical professionals and AAA all support the change, which has been proposed several times at the Legislature.
