On July 1, 2011, Georgia’s law on requiring children 8 and under to be in booster seats went into effect. Children who are shorter than 4 feet, 9 inches and under 40 pounds are not safely restrained in regular seat belts, according to Channel 12, WRDW News.
Exemptions to this new law include children that are 8 years old but are taller than 4 feet, 9 inches are not required to be in a booster seat.
Lt. Randy Prickett from the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office says putting seat belts on younger children can put them at risk. He also said, “It can cut their oxygen or actually they can escape from the seat belt and be a projectile in the car”
Rene Hopkins, Safe Kids coordinator at GHSU, explains that regular seat belts hit in all the wrong places on a child below the height requirement. This can be very dangerous during a vehicle crash.
According to Channel 12 News, these changes to the law are very important. Motor vehicle crashes are the number one form of unintentional injury-related deaths for children. With utilizing a booster seat for children, children are 59% less likely to be injured in a crash.
If You Have Questions
Our experienced personal injury attorneys at Childers, Schleuter & Smith, LLC are well-versed and familiar with Georgia’s automobile and roadway laws. We handle motor vehicle accidents on a regular basis. If you have questions on this, or other laws, and how they may affect you, feel free to contact our attorneys.