Children are 75% less likely to die or sustain serious injury in a rear-facing seat, research finds.
So, on July 1, child safety seats in Virginia will be required, by law, to remain rear facing until the child is two years old or reaches the minimum weight limit for a forward-facing child restraint device as prescribed by the manufacturer of the device.
The new law will bring Virginia requirements in line with the safety recommendations of many nation-wide safety organizations including; AAA, American Academy of Pediatrics, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Centers for Disease Control, and others. The law had a delayed implementation date to provide residents time to prepare for compliance.
Exceptions to the requirement, under the current law, can be made if a doctor determines that the use of a child-restraint system is impractical for size, physical unfitness or other medical reasons. Those transporting a child who has been granted this exemption must carry a signed written statement from a physician at all times.
First violations are subject to a civil penalty of $50 and second or subsequent offenses on different dates are subject to a civil penalty of up to $500, but The Virginia Department of Health has programs that assist low-income individuals in acquiring car seats for their children.
All civil penalties collected for violations are paid into the Child Restraint Device Special Fund (§ 46.2-1097), which is used promote, purchase, and distribute child restraint devices to applicants who need a child restraint device but are unable to afford one.
The law was established by House Bill 708 in 2018 and championed by Delegate Eileen Filler-Corn in northern Virginia, said an announcement by the American Automobile Association, or AAA, who led advocacy of the effort to strengthen Virginia’s child restraint law.
In the announcement of the July 1 implementation of the law, Public and Government Affairs for AAA Martha Mitchell Meade, said the automobile safety organization was “thrilled” and that the “legislation is a strong step forward in an effort to keep our children safe while traveling in a vehicle,”
The Mid-Atlantic Foundation for Safety and Education, a charitable affiliate with AAA, as well as many car-seat manufacturers recommend keeping children rear facing at least until two years of age or even longer depending on the child’s size, the announcement said.
“Children are safest when kept rear facing in a car seat for as long as possible. Instead of focusing on the minimum weight limit to face forward, consider keeping your child rear facing until they reach the maximum weight limit of a convertible car seat- which has a higher rear-facing weight and height limit than an infant seat,” Haley Glynn said.
Glynn is a traffic safety community educator and certified child passenger safety technician.
“Convertible seats transition a child from rear facing to forward facing and can typically carry a child from birth to the booster stage,” she said.
AAA cites the following as support for the new law:
- Children are about 75% less likely to die or sustain serious injury in a rear-facing seat according to the American Academy of Pediatrics .
- Rear-facing seats disperse the crash force more evenly across the back of the seat and the child’s body and limit the motion of the head, reducing the potential of neck injury according to Safe Kids, a nonprofit organization focused on keeping kids safe from injuries.
- Per the American Academy of Pediatrics, in a 2011 policy statement, young children’ bones, ligaments and joints are still developing which place them at an increased risk of head and spinal cord injury. Rear-facing seats can reduce this risk by supporting the head and preventing the relatively large head from moving independently from the proportionately smaller neck.
- Nearly all convertible child safety seats on the market in 2017 (73 out of 77) could accommodate children up to 40 pounds or more when used rear-facing.
- Forty pounds exceeds the 95th percentile for children at two years of age.
The change is recommended by AAA Safe Seats 4 Kids, American Academy of Pediatrics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Consumer reports, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Children’s Hospital of the Kings Daughters, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Make Safe Happen, and Safe Kids.
—-Staff reports
