That changes Wednesday, April 7. Police can write tickets of $25 to $75 for each offense.
Jessica Saunders, community relations manager at Children’s Medical Center of Dayton, is an expert at child safety seats and counsels parents on how to use them. Saunders has heard all the reasons why the law upsets parents.
They call the law government interference. They say it will be embarrassing for their older kids to use the seats, while others say they don’t have the money to buy the seats or the time during a busy day to buckle multiple kids into booster seats.
Saunders, who testified on behalf of the bill, can usually sway their opinion by showing them how the boosters visibly improve their child’s safety.
The booster lifts the child up in the seat so that the seat belt works more effectively. Instead of a the shoulder belt sliding across the child’s neck or face and the lap belt wrapping around the abdomen, the booster aligns the seat belt with the tough parts of the child’s body like the hips and shoulders.
Matthew and Jennifer Laird, of Xenia were glad they chose to continue use of safety seats beyond their twins’ 8th birthday last year. Even though law didn’t require it, the Lairds decided Isabella and Aleacia should use the seats. After a head-on collision last July, the seats proved their worth to the family.
Aleacia and another sister, Sophia, 3, received mild concussions, but were soon released from the hospital. Isabella was injured much more seriously, sustaining traumatic brain injuries that kept her hospitalized for seven weeks.
But her family believes she could have died without the seat.
“Matt and I think if Bella was not buckled in as she was she would’ve gone through the front of the car and through the windshield,” Jennifer Laird said.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2216 or kmargolis@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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