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Congress, Senate Pass Fitzgerald Child Safety Seat Plan

13 October 2000

Congress, Senate Pass Fitzgerald Child Safety Seat Plan; Bipartisan Measure Will Address Leading Cause of Child Deaths In U.S.; Bill Awaits President's Signature

    WASHINGTON, Oct. 12 The U.S. Senate Wednesday night
approved a broad road safety package that includes a plan by Senator Peter G.
Fitzgerald (R-Illinois) to improve safety standards for child car seats and
booster seats.  The bill, approved late Tuesday by the House of
Representatives, now goes to President Clinton for his signature.
    "Car crashes are the leading cause of death among children in this
country," Fitzgerald said, citing statistics indicating that as many as 600
children under the age of five are killed each year in car accidents.  "As the
father of a young son, I was shocked to learn that some of the government's
safety and testing standards for child safety seats date as far back as the
1970s.  This legislation is an important victory for parents across the
country who need to know that the car seats they entrust to protect their
children are up to the task."
    Fitzgerald's legislation calls on the federal government to modernize its
outdated testing methods for child safety seats, expand efforts to protect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 measure also calls for new federal
regulations to ensure greater protection against head injuries in side-impact
collisions, and instructs 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 is best for their
children.
    Fitzgerald joined forces with Senators Blanche Lincoln, an Arkansas
Democrat, and Rick Santorum, a Pennsylvania Republican, to propose these
reforms, which will help protect children against injuries and death in
automobile crashes.  Fitzgerald, Lincoln, and Santorum, the three youngest
members of the U.S. Senate, are all parents of young children.
    "Currently we use 1970s testing methods to protect children in the new
millennium," said Lincoln.  "That's more than behind the times, it's risky and
unnecessary.  We've made great strides over the last twenty years in injury
prevention and travel safety.  It's time to put that knowledge to work and to
more effectively provide parents with the information they need to choose the
best safety seat for their children.  I'm proud to have worked with my
colleagues to pass this bill into law."
    "As the father of five, I understand first-hand the importance of having
strong safety standards in place to protect our children," said Santorum.
"This common-sense approach to automobile safety will protect our children and
give parents a greater peace of mind.  I applaud the Senate for passing this
important legislation and am hopeful that the President will sign this
important bill into law."
    "In many cases, child safety seat standards in the U.S. fall below
standards of other countries," Fitzgerald noted.  "For example, the agency
still tests car seats using a test bench from a 1970s-era Chevy Impala.  These
standards clearly need to be revised to better reflect the vehicles on the
road today."
    Fitzgerald's bill also encourages NHTSA to test some car seats in actual
cars instead of in simulators only, and calls on the agency to test child seat
performance in a wider range of possible collisions.  NHTSA currently tests
seats only in head-on collisions, even though side-impact, rear-impact, and
rollover collisions account for about half of all child automobile fatalities.
    Current child safety seat standards also ignore a significant number of
children who, like Fitzgerald's 8-year-old son, have outgrown car seats but
may still be too small for regular adult seat belts.  These "forgotten
children," consequently, may be at greater risk than other passengers in car
crashes.  Fitzgerald's legislation requires NHTSA to take steps to close this
safety gap as quickly as possible.
    "Our car seat legislation would not have passed without the efforts of
Congressman John Shimkus, who carried the bill in the House, and Senator John
McCain, who helped push our plan in his committee and on the Senate floor,"
Fitzgerald concluded.  "This bill includes important reforms to improve the
safety features and performance of car seats and provide parents with the
information they need to choose the best safety seat for their children.  I am
proud that we were able to pass it this year."