FACT SHEET

Booster Seats

May 2007

Beginning June 1, 2007 in Washington, the requirement for using booster seats changes to a child’s eighth birthday, unless they are four feet, nine inches (57 inches) tall. (WSSRC)

Washington’s new child passenger safety law will closely follow the best practices recommended by safety experts. All items listed below will be required by law effective June 1. (WSSRC)

• Restraints must be installed correctly (according to car seat and vehicle instructions)
• Kids up to their eighth birthday, unless they are four feet, nine inches tall (57 inches), must ride in appropriate child restraints
  • Infants must ride in rear-facing child restraints to at least one year of age and 20 pounds (because car seat instructions require it.)
  • Booster seats for kids from age four to their eighth birthday, unless they are four feet, nine inches tall
• When children use the seat belt they must wear it correctly or continue to use a child restraint or booster seat
• Kids ride in the back seat up to age 13 (where practical to do so)
• Cars with all lap belts in the back are exempt from boosters
• Putting the shoulder belt under the arm or behind the back is illegal

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death and acquired disability for children between the ages of 4 and 8 years. (CHOP)

Children ages 4 to 8 who use booster seats are 59% less likely to be injured in a car crash than children who are restrained only by a seat belt. (PCPS, CHOP)

Each year about 400 kids (between ages 4 and 8) in the USA die in motor vehicle crashes—over 70,000 are injured. Over 7,000 of these injuries are “incapacitating.” (CHOP)

83% of kids ages 4 to 8 are in adult seat belts. (AAP)

Seat belts are engineered to fit an adult male 5’10” weighing 165 lbs. (CHOP)

About 1.5 million kids are in motor vehicle crashes each year in the USA. (CHOP)

More than 82% of child car seats are being misused according to current safety recommendations. (NHTSA)

Approximately 7,500 lives have been saved by the proper use of child restraints during the past 20 years. (NHTSA)

While 98% of America’s infants and 93% of children ages 1 to 3 are now regularly restrained, not enough children ages 4 through 7 are restrained properly for their size and age. (NHTSA)

Many 3-year-olds are graduated too soon: (CHOP)

• 29% of 3-year-olds are incorrectly moved from car seats to boosters
• 16% of 3-year-olds are incorrectly moved from child car seats to seat belts

More than 50% of the parents (of kids of booster seat age) said they had a booster and just weren’t using it. (Ramsay)

Children ages 4 through 7 are generally too small for adult seat belts and need a “boost” to ensure the seat belt will fit securely across their chests and low across the upper thighs—to help prevent internal injuries, neck, head and spinal injuries, and even ejection and death in the event of a crash. (CHOP)

Kids who don’t ride in boosters are three times more likely to have severe abdominal injuries in a crash. (PCPS study)

Head injuries are the most common type of injury to children who are not in boosters. (PCPS study)

90% of kids ages 4 to 8 who were seriously injured were not in a booster seat. Injury percentages: (CHOP)

• 73% were to the face and head (serious brain injuries, concussions, facial cuts)
• 14% were to extremities (broken arms, legs)
• 5% were abdominal (ruptured spleen, liver, intestines)

Why aren’t parents using booster seats? (Ebel, April 2003)

• 56% said “My kid is too big for a booster.”
• 9% said “I have it, just don’t have it with me.”
• 8 % said “I have never heard of boosters.”

Between 1999 and 2004, 10,437 kids (ages 1 – 4) died in the U.S. (CDC)

• 3,240 died in car crashes
• 2,781 died by drowning
• 1,518 died as a result of fires
• 874 suffocated
• 590 pedestrians
• 261 died from falls
• 195 died from poisonings
• 77 died from gun shot wounds
• 14 died while riding bikes

Boosters are easier to use than child car seats because they don’t have to be anchored to the vehicle. You place the booster on the vehicle seat, and secure the child with the car’s lap and shoulder belt. (WTSC)

A car seat with a harness is recommended for children until about age four or when they outgrow them. (WSSRC)

In 1998, only 3.4% of the kids of booster seat age were in boosters nationally. In 2002 the booster use rate increased to16% nationally. (NHTSA)

Boosters have been around since the 1970’s.  There are currently more than 40 different models. They range in price from $15 to over $200 (WTSC)

Important Dates: (NHTSA)

2000 - Washington State passes the first booster seat law in the USA (implemented in 2002 after public education campaign). This triggered a wave of booster legislation across the USA.

2000 - 2002 New federal regulations require lap/shoulder belts for center rear seats by 2005.

2001 - Partners For Child Passenger Safety (PCPS) research published
supporting the need for booster seats.

2003 - By April, 26 states and DC have restraint laws that call for boosters –and 9 states require boosters for up to age 8.

As children grow, how they need to be secured in a car, truck, van or SUV changes. For maximum child passenger safety, parents and caregivers simply need to remember and follow the 4 Steps for Kids: (NHTSA)

1)  For the best possible protection keep infants in the back seat, in rear-facing child safety seats, as long as possible up to the height or weight limit of the particular seat.  At a minimum, keep infants rear-facing until a minimum of age 1 and at least 20 pounds;

2)  When children outgrow their rear-facing seats (at a minimum age 1 and at least 20 pounds) they should ride in forward-facing child safety seats, in the back seat, until they reach the upper weight or height limit of the particular seat (usually around age 4 and 40 pounds);

3)  Once children outgrow their forward-facing seat (usually around age 4 and 40 pounds), they should ride in booster seats positioned in the back seat until the vehicle seat belts fit properly.  Seat belts fit properly when the lap belt lies across the upper thighs and the shoulder belt fits across the chest (usually at age 8 or when they are 4’9” tall);

4)  When children outgrow their booster seats, (usually at age 8 or when they are 4’9” tall) they can use the adult seat belt in the back seat, if it fits properly (lap belt lies across the upper thighs and shoulder belt across the chest). 

Websites for more information on booster seats:
www.boosterseat.org Washington State Safety Restraint Coalition
www.traumalink.chop.edu Partners for Child Passenger Safety


AAP | American Academy of Pediatrics
CDC | Center for Disease Control
CHOP | Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Ebel | Dr. Beth Ebel, Asst. Professor of Pediatrics, UW Medical School, and Interim Director, Harborview Medical Center
NHTSA | National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
PCPS | Partners for Child Passenger Safety
Ramsey | Ann Ramsay, Evan Simpson, Fred Rivara, Pediatrics, 2000
WSSRC | Washington State Safety Restraint Coalition
WTSC | Washington Traffic Safety Commission