BOOSTING KIDS' SAFETY


January 12, 2012 | Daily Republic
A nanny law that I like
by Kelvin Wade

One thing a new year always brings is new laws. Last year, Gov. Jerry Brown signed more than 750 bills into law. Most of the time, we pay little mind to new laws that don’t seemingly affect us. There is one new law that’s important if you have little kids. But first, on to some of the others.

Some new laws are no-brainers. It’s now illegal to smuggle cell phones into prisons and illegal for inmates to have them. More than 10,000 cell phones were confiscated from inmates in 2010. In 2009, more than 2,000 cell phones were confiscated in California State Prison Solano in Vacaville. Why’d it take so long to pass a law?

It is now illegal to openly carry unloaded handguns in public. Open-carry advocates are outraged and vow to openly carry unloaded shotguns and rifles, which is still legal. (Guess won’t be legal next year?) I’ve always thought openly carrying unloaded guns was stupid. It puts police in a dangerous position and tells the bad guys you’ve got an unloaded gun. If I’m just wearing a heavy coat, they don’t know what I have.

A couple of measures referred to as the California Dream Act sparked controversy. The laws allow students here illegally to access private financial aid and next year, it will allow them access to taxpayer-funded aid. I’ve written about this issue before. It’s well-intentioned do-gooderism that every so often flows out of Sacramento and has a curious way of involving our wallets.

But what caught my attention was a new booster-seat law. There is a new law that parents may be unaware of that says children under 8 years of age or 4 feet, 9 inches tall must use a booster seat when riding in a car. Kids who were 6 or weighed at least 60 pounds were exempt under the old law. The new law does away with the weight limit. So kids who thought they were finished with booster seats, guess what?

This is interesting for me because a couple of weeks ago, I took my 6-year-old grandson Vika out for lunch. While we were parked and sitting in the car, he put on a little fake mustache and I turned and took his picture. It was later while looking at the picture that I felt uneasy about how his seatbelt fell across his neck. Then I came across the new law.

Facts are facts. According to Safe Kids Sacramento, car crashes are the No. 1 killer of children between the ages of 4 and 8. Hundreds of children have been killed or seriously injured due to improper seatbelt use in the past decade in California.

I tend to scoff at these nanny-type laws, but not this time. I don’t mess around when it comes to my grandkids’ safety. I’ve been in a car accident with both grandkids and fortunately, I was the only one hurt. I still have pain from that accident to this day. Vika was 2½ at the time and safely belted into a car seat.

If he’s required to be seated on a booster seat, then he certainly will be whenever he’s riding with me. I don’t even need the law. I want him to be safe.

But still, it meant something for Vika to finally outgrow the booster seat. He felt more grown-up being able to sit in a regular seat and buckle himself in.

I’ll just have to come up with some reason to make it cool again. This is one new law I (and little kids) can live with. Literally. Peace.
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ADDITIONAL NOTES: I have a history of opposing nanny laws. I haven't been happy with the cellphone headset law because it's disingenuous. There's no difference between talking on a handset or a headset. The way the no texting law is written makes it nearly impossible to enforce. Banning people from smoking in cars with their kids is a law that feels good but it's real impact is probably negligible. What's the good of prohibiting a parent from smoking in a five minute car ride to school with their kids if they're smoking in the house with the kids all day? It's those kinds of laws that I question.

But I don't question this law because this single action could easily be the difference between life and death. Being responsible for an accident with my grandkids is something that I never forget. Their safety is paramount to me.

Comments

Anonymous said…
In some cars, you can adjust the seatbelt height. But not very many do.
4:41 PM
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