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Car Seat Standards

January 3, 2012 by · Comments Off on Car Seat Standards 

Car Seat StandardsCar Seat Standards, If you’re six or seven, it’s probably not the news you want to hear: time to get back in your booster seat. A new law for 2012 raises the age of requirement for car booster seats from 6-years-old to 8.

“There’s actually a couple other states already at the 8-year-old mark right now,” said Joel Mathieson, manager of the Buy Buy Baby store in Elk Grove.

So now, all those parents with 6 or 7-year-olds who have already given away their booster seats will have to get them back, or replace them.

“He’s 7 and he’s big,” said Rita, a shopper with a 7-year-old grandson. “I think he is too big for a booster seat.”

But under the new rule her grandson would have to be really big to avoid the new requirement. Only 6 and 7-year-olds who stand at least 4 foot 9 inches are allowed to sit in a car without a booster.

The idea is to raise kids up high enough in the car seat so that the seat belt will hit them at the shoulder and the chest. The booster seat lobby claims that kids who sit higher are less likely to be seriously injured in an accident by 60%.

If you are a parent who now needs to re-buy a booster, expect to spend anywhere from $30 to $300.

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