- House Bills 4511 and 4512 which revised the previous child safety restraint requirements
- Children must be in a rear facing car seat until they are at least 2 years old or have reached the height and weight limit set by the manufacturer, once meeting that requirement, children are then expected to be in a forward facing car seat until they are 5 or meets the height and weight limit.
- Children who are at least 8 years old or 4 feet 9 inches tall are required to ride in a booster seat.
- In the attached story, I spoke with a local pediatrician, Brittany Tayler and Lansing Fire Chief, Brian Sturdivant about how these laws will affect parents
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
As we begin the new year, a new law will have families seeing some changes to car seat requirements.
I'm your neighborhood reporter Asya Lawrence here with a deeper look into what parents and caregivers need to know.
"The second leading cause of death in children under the age of 18 is motor vehicle accidents." said Brittany Tayler, MSU Pediatrician.
A chilling statistic many of our state and local agencies have been trying to bring awareness too, including the Lansing Fire Department.
"We have a renewed sense of really being intentional with our community risks reductions." said Brian Sturdivant, Lansing Fire Chief.
Apart of that is supporting House Bills 4511 and 4512 which revised the previous child safety restraint requirements.
"Before these laws were not reflecting the use of a booster seat as well as how long the car seat should be rear facing or forward facing so now its up to standards that have been set across the United States." Tayler said.
Now, children must be in a rear facing car seat until they are at least 2 years old or have reached the height and weight limit set by the manufacturer, once meeting that requirement, children are then expected to be in a forward facing car seat until they are 5 or meets the height and weight limit.
Lastly, children who are at least 8 years old or 4 feet 9 inches tall are required to ride in a booster seat.
"I'm hoping that this will add clarity and make it easier for parents and caregivers to decide what car seat to buy based on these recommendations. Another important thing about the law is there's really no penalty if you got the wrong one." Tayler said.
In fact, Lansing Fire Chief Brian Sturdivant tells me that in coordination with these new laws, the department will offer a carseat technician program.
"We will offer specific fire house locations and days and times where the community members can schedule an appointment to come in and either have their car seat checked for proper installation and/or installed." Sturdivant said.
The car and booster seat laws are now in effect and Lansing fire's car seat technician program is expected to launch within the next 3 weeks.
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