U.S. Senate Approves Second Fitzgerald Child Passenger Safety Bill

Bill Encourages Greater Use of Booster Seats to Protect Children In Car Crashes; Senator Calls for House Passage WASHINGTON, Feb. 25 -- The U.S. Senate today unanimously approved legislation by Senator Peter G. Fitzgerald (R-IL) to help reduce automobile-related fatalities and injuries to children. The measure, Fitzgerald's second child passenger safety bill to win Senate passage, encourages states to adopt mandatory booster seat laws and requires automakers to improve car safety features.

``Child passenger safety experts agree that children who have outgrown car seats but are still too small for adult seat belts can be best protected by riding in booster seats. Yet only seven states have mandatory booster seat laws, and efforts to pass meaningful booster seat laws in other states, including Illinois, have failed,'' said Fitzgerald. The seven states with booster seat laws are Arkansas, Washington, California, South Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, and New Jersey.

``We know booster seats save lives, and this bill will help encourage more parents to use them. I appreciate my colleagues' support for this important child safety initiative,'' Fitzgerald added.

Fitzgerald's legislation is called ``Anton's Law'' in memory of Anton Skeen, a four-year-old who was killed in a car crash in Washington state. Anton's mother, Autumn Skeen, a national child passenger safety advocate whose efforts contributed to the passage of Washington state's booster seat law, endorsed Fitzgerald's bill. Autumn has said she believes Anton's life could have been saved had he been riding in a booster seat.

Designed specifically to help standard adult seatbelts fit children better, booster seats are used to protect children who have outgrown their car seats but are still too small to fit properly in an adult-sized safety belt. They work to help reduce the risk of what experts call ``lap belt syndrome'' -- instances in which improperly-fitting seatbelts themselves actually cause serious injury to children in car crashes instead of protecting them. In some crashes, for example, the shoulder belt that cuts across a child's neck- instead of her torso-and the lap belt that rides high on her abdomen cause severe internal injuries to her liver, spleen, intestines, and spinal cord, Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald's legislation would do the following:

* Encourage State Action by providing states with financial incentives to adopt mandatory booster seat laws by 2003.

* Modernize Auto Safety by requiring automakers to install lap and shoulder belts assemblies in all rear seating positions of passenger cars-including the center seat position.

* Improve Testing by expanding booster seat testing to cover kids over 50 lbs.

* Promote Safety Education by extending a federal grant program for states to promote child passenger safety and education.

``The alarmingly low rate of booster seat use is a major problem in this country and a serious public health threat,'' Fitzgerald said. ``Passing Anton's Law is a step toward making cars safer for our children. I urge the House of Representatives to follow the Senate's lead and pass this bill.''

Fitzgerald, 41, is the youngest member of the U.S. Senate and the father of a nine year old son.

Anton's Law is Fitzgerald's second bill in two years addressing automobile safety for children. In 2000, the senator authored legislation to modernize the government's outdated testing methods for child safety seats, expand efforts to protect children in various types of collisions, and close the ``child safety gap'' that leaves older children unprotected. The law, which passed as part of a broader road safety package, also called for new federal regulations to ensure greater protection against head injuries in side-impact collisions, and instructed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the federal agency responsible for testing child safety seats, to provide parents with accurate, easy-to-understand information they can use to decide which car seat or booster seat is best for their child.