Senate panel rejects safety seat revisions

Staff Writer

By mark rosman

A Democratic state senator’s attempt to change the requirements of a new child safety seat law was rejected by a Senate committee on Nov. 29.

Voting along party lines, the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee voted 3-2 to kill a bill that had been introduced by Democratic Sen. John H. Adler of Camden County.

Voting to send the bill to the full Senate for consideration were Democrats John A. Girgenti of Passaic County and Gary J. Furnari, who represents parts of Bergen, Essex and Passaic counties.

Voting to kill the bill were Republicans Norman M. Robertson (Essex and Passaic), Louis F. Kosco of Bergen County and Anthony R. Bucco of Morris County.

The defeat for Adler’s initiative means that a new child safety seat law that took effect on Dec. 1 — the so-called "8 and 80" law — will remain in effect. The following is a guideline to the new restraint laws:

• Infants up to 20 pounds and 1 year of age must be secured in the back seat of a motor vehicle in a federally approved rear-facing infant seat or convertible car seat.

• If the motor vehicle doesn’t have a back seat, the infant must be secured in the front seat of the vehicle in the same rear-facing manner.

• Children weighing between 20 and 40 pounds must be secured in the back seat of a motor vehicle in a federally approved convertible car seat or booster seat with a five-point harness system. The child must be facing forward in an upright position.

• Children between 40 and 80 pounds must be secured in the back seat of a motor vehicle in a federally approved booster seat using the lap and shoulder belt.

• If there is no back seat in the motor vehicle, the child must be secured in the front seat in the same manner as the back, with the vehicle’s seat pushed as far back as possible.

• All passengers under 18 years of age, but older than 8 and weighing more than 80 pounds, are required to wear a seat belt when riding anywhere in a motor vehicle. Children under 12 should ride in the back seat whenever possible.

• All drivers and their passengers are required to wear seat belts when riding in a motor vehicle. Additionally, it is the driver’s responsibility to ensure that all passengers under the age of 18 are properly restrained.

Police officers are authorized to stop any vehicle if they see that a child is not properly restrained. Although the motorist will not receive any points on his license, the fine will be $44 if a guilty plea is entered.

The key component of the new law — and the one that has drawn the most attention — states that anyone operating a motor vehicle (other than a school bus) who is transporting a child younger than 8 and weighing less than 80 pounds must secure that child in a child passenger restraint system or booster seat.

Once a child turns 8 years old (regardless of weight) or reaches 80 pounds (regardless of age), he or she may be seated in the back seat, restrained by a regular seat belt.

The bill introduced by Adler in mid-November sought to simplify the car safety requirements for children by reducing the age requirement from 8 years and removing the 80-pound weight requirement for children to qualify for full seat belt status.

"My bill is very simple," Adler said. "When children reach the age of 5, they can sit in the back seat and wear a seat belt and their parents won’t be breaking any laws. There’s no need for the state to have parents worrying if they are scofflaws for not forcing their 7-year-old, 75-pound child into a booster seat.

"Government always should strive for common-sense regulation without overextending into interference in the lives of parents caring for their children," said Adler, a father of four boys ranging in age from 2 months to 12 years. "I’ve listened to the concerns of good parents and the conclusion I have come to is that this new law is too confusing and goes way too far."

The majority of the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee did not agree with Adler, and neither did two of New Jersey’s federal legislators, Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Corzine and Democratic Congressman Frank Pallone.

In a press release issued Nov. 29, the day of the state Senate committee hearing, Corzine and Pallone urged New Jersey legislators to continue to support the tougher child safety seat law. The two federal lawmakers said they were concerned that state legislators were trying to "water down" the safety seat law the Legislature overwhelmingly supported earlier this year.

According to the press release, Corzine and Pallone are sponsors of a federal "Child Passenger Safety Act" which encourages states to enact laws requiring children up to the age of 8 to be properly secured in a child car safety seat or booster seat appropriate to the child’s age or size. The legislation also encourages states to ensure that children up to the age of 16 are restrained in a seat belt, regardless of where they are sitting in the vehicle.

"I am pleased that New Jersey’s legislators have taken the strongest measures possible to protect the lives of our children," Corzine said. "New Jersey’s laws are now among the strongest in the nation and should not now be watered down. We now need to work to enact similar legislation on a federal level so that New Jersey’s children are protected from danger no matter where they travel."

Todd Dinsmore, a staff member in the state Senate Democratic office, told Greater Media Newspapers on Nov. 30 that lawmakers may consider proposing a revision to the so-called "8 and 80" law with a bill that would require children under the age of 6 and weighing less than 60 pounds to be placed in a booster seat or child passenger restraint system.