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Bush signs tougher kids seat
belt law
By Detroit News staff and wires, December 5, 2002
For more articles visit
www.bridges4kids.org.
President Bush on Wednesday signed a new law to make car rides
safer for children.
The law will require shoulder belts in addition to lap straps
in the middle rear seats of vehicles. The law also requires
the federal government to test booster seats for children age
4 to 8.
Automakers have already begun to install lap and shoulder
belts in the middle seat, considered the safest for children
in an auto accident.
But up until now, only a lap belt has been required.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates the rule will affect
between 9 million and 12 million vehicles, at a cost of $50 to
$85 per vehicle.
The requirement will be phased in between the 2005 and 2008
model years.
The measure has been dubbed "Anton's Law" in memory of Anton
Skeen, a 4-year-old who was killed in a car crash in
Washington state in 1996.
"This ratifies the direction the industry began taking a few
years ago," said Robert Straussburger, a vehicle safety expert
at the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.
"It's something we can all live with."
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