New law willprotect children

To the editor

   On a recent drive, I witnessed a young child playing in the back seat of a car. The child ran and bounced back and forth along the length of the back seat as he frolicked, unaware that his life was in danger.
   A sudden stop would have sent that child into harms way, as his fragile body slammed into the back of the front seat or potentially upward into the inside head liner of the roof. I shuddered as I thought about how a crash could have turned a moment of play into grief and tragedy for the family.
   Too many families have known such moments of tragedy. In 1999, 1,700 children across the nation died in vehicle crashes.
   In an effort to save young lives and prevent needless tragedies, New Jersey’s child passenger safety law is being upgraded next month.
   Beginning Dec. 1, all children up to age 8 or 80 pounds in weight arerequired to travel in safety seats. The new law also requires children ages 8 to 18 to wear a seat belt. Children under age 8 who weigh more than 80 pounds also are required to wear a seat belt.
   The booster-type child seat, designed for older children, raises a child’s body so the vehicle’s lap and shoulder belt fits properly.
   Police officers will be checking to make sure children are secured by a safety seat or seat belt when traveling. We hope to make the sight of unsecured children, playing and climbing about in vehicles, a thing of the past.