In the state of Texas, Section 545.413 of the Transportation Code requires seatbelt use for all children under 17 as well as anyone sitting in the front seat. The primary question that parents have is “When is my child old enough to transition from a safety seat to a normal seatbelt?” Texas Law requires that children be in booster seats until they are 8 years old, Section 545.412 of the Transporation Code. There are also recommendations by the Department of Public Safety as well as other foundations focused on the safety of traveling with children.
There are different levels of safety seating for children. These levels start with the rear facing car seat all the way to the booster seat. The TDPS released the Child Passenger Safety National Best Practice Recommendations breaking safety seating into four categories or phases. The first phase is the rear-facing seat and is suggested to be used with children from birth until the child reaches 35 pounds or is over two years old.[1] The next phase is the forward-facing seat and it is suggested until the child reaches the maximum weight of that chair or is at least four years old.[2] Booster seats are suggested for children after age 4 until the child is 4’9” tall or usually 10-12 years old.[3]
The last phase is the adult safety belt. TDPS suggests that children may wear a seatbelt if and when it fits them properly. To test proper fit, they suggest that the “lap portion [fits] low over the hips/tops of thighs and shoulder belt crosses the center of the shoulder and center of the chest.”[4] If the child’s legs cannot bend naturally while sitting with their back against the seat, another booster seat is needed. Without a proper fit, the seatbelt could injure the child’s neck or internal organs.[5]
A group of doctors published an article on the “seat-belt syndrome” which refers to the many injuries that are associated with lap-belt restraints. They show injuries of eight different children in three different accidents. All children were wearing seatbelts of the lap-belt or three point restraint type. The results were that “[a]ll had abdominal lap-belt ecchymosis and multiple abdominal injuries due to the common mechanism of seat-belt compression with hyperflexion and distraction during deceleration. Five of the children had lumbar spine fractures and four remained permanently paraplegic.”[5]
These pediatric tragedies are due to an avoidable problem. If drivers and parents are aware of the dangers that are present in the choice of restraint mechanisms, maybe the injuries will lessen. There are some child deaths and injuries that are a result of the parents not having the income to provide adequate safety restraints for their children. In that case, Safe Riders is a program that distributes safety seats and educates the public on how to accurately utilize the seats as well as the laws about them.[6]
The tragic deaths and injuries of children due to lack of restraint or incorrect restraint is avoidable.
Written by:
Lyndsey Mott
Approved by Francisco Guerra IV
Watts Guerra, LLP
4 Dominion Drive, Bldg 3, Suite 100
San Antonio, TX 78257
Office (210) 447-0500
© Watts Guerra LLP 2015
[1] https://www.dps.texas.gov/director_staff/public_information/carseat.htm
[2] Id.
[3]Id.
[4] http://kidshealth.org/parent/question/safety/seatbelt.html
[5] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16248135
[6] https://www.dshs.state.tx.us/saferiders/distribution.shtm
