Michigan Votes Forum

Introduced in the Senate on January 25, 2007, to require child safety booster seats for children between four- and eight-years old who are under 4-feet 9-inches tall and weigh less than 80 pounds

The vote was 38 in favor, 0 opposed and 0 not voting

(Senate Roll Call 113 at Senate Journal 24)

Click here to view bill details.

I fully supprt the requirement that children be in safety seats until age 8 or 4' 9". There are already many states with this requirement. The safety of our children is so important and many studies have shown that keeping them in seats this long aids in reduced injuries and casualties. It never ceases to amaze me how many parents don't see the importance of keeping their children safe. I see too many children not properly restrained or even worse, in the front seat at young ages. I know the seats are cumbersome sometimes but you can never get your child back so why not do all that you can to protect them daily in the car. It is just sad to me that the state would have to mandate this even though common sense and all of the recommendations we hear as parents tells us to do it anyway. I applaud teh Senator for intoducing this bill and look forward to it passing.

I never even wore seat belt until I was 14 or 15.I personally hate the seat belt laws.I rode in the front seat right by my dad when I was a kid and we'd talk,share thoughts,and sometimes on a back road he'd let me drive.The government,trial lawyers,and special interest groups have ruined the American way of life.Personal freedoms, raising your family how you see fit and having choice in our lives is gone forever.

I truely believe in the value of seat belts. However, I feel that our police have far more important work to do than to stop a moving vehicle to determine the weight and height of its passenger occupants. The is very bad legislation. We can do better.

IMO, i think it's insane to have a 4 year old who is 40 ibs in a seatbelt alone. My kids are 3 and 10 months and are both in a 5 pt. harness still. Am I paranoid? Maybe. BUT I would rather see this bill pass than a bill on medicinal marijuana! Are Michigan's kids really that un-important that they aren't worth it? And for a parent that says its crazy, have you ever lost a child because they were improperly restrained in a car? Have you ever even watched a video made by a parent who has? If not, I suggest you go to youtube and watch the Kyle Miller video as well as Belle's Gift. Then maybe you could wake up and see through your rose colored glasses that our kids arer worth saving!! --thanks, Sonya soon to be Child Passager Safety Tech.

No, we older people didn't used to wear seat belts as children. But then again, women smoked and drank during pregnancy years ago also. Marijuana use was widespread. People didn't understand the need to exercise for good health. So, gee, should we go backwards in time adn ignore the facts that have been learned by the scientific and meidcal communities jsut so you can raise your familya s you see fit? Can you not have a conversation with your child in the backseat? Is your radio too high to hear one another? I seem to be able to accomplish conversations daily with my 4 and 5 1/2 year olds while riding in a car. I think you need a reality check. It is so sad to me to read that you are so IGNORANT of the importance of seat restraints. Obviously your children dont mean much to you if you are not willing to see the benefit of keping them restrained. Mine have always been in 5 point restraints and don't know any different. You can't control every driver on the road so you cannot control the safety of your children in the car. I hope that you will visit the sites described by the previous responder to see what can happen to a child who is not properly restrained. I pray to God that nothing happens to your child (I'm afraid to know if you actually have one however since your concern for him/her seems minimul). You gave a very uninformed, ignorant, holier-than-though response and I can only pray for you to see the light. SOMETIMES, the government does know best and it is because of people like you idiots that we need them to make this a law.

Really, I can't believe that you don't have a special restraint for each age, sex, height and weight level for your kids! Haven't you seen the videos? Haven't you been to safety school? Geez. What kind of parent are you? Look at me! I'm so safe that I won't even allow my children to travel in any kind of motorized transport, whatsoever. It's just too damned dangerous out there. Heck, my kids can't even walk about the house without knee-pads, elbow-pads and a full-face helmet. One never knows when a kid might fall down the stairs or something. Truthfully, I heard that a kid fell through a second-story window on the other side of town three years ago. So I'll tell you what, pending the installation of crash pads around the perimeter of my house, my kids will no longer be allowed upstairs without adult supervision and only then, while wearing a body harness. (Can parachutes be made to open within a one-story drop? I'll have to check into that.) And actually, now that I think about it, maybe I should just rubberize the walls and imprison those kids in the basement. Then, no stairs, even. What the hey, it's not like they'll miss the outdoors -- they haven't been outside in years, anyway, what, with all that ultraviolet radiation and lightning and stuff. * * * * * Plumberboy has "always" had his kids in "5 point restraints...." Yeah. Right. This is just more silliness from the I-know-better-than-you-do crowd. Jim Arvada, CO

there are so many rules and regs today that all the kids are allowed to do is play x-box...and the government wonders why the kids are getting fat. Let them take off the helmets, kneepad, elbow pads and go out and play.

This bill crosses the line between increasing safety and imposing excessively harsh regulations. There's always a way to make kids safer (require kids to wear helmets in cars, perhaps), but it should be up to parents to decide how far to go. My family would have 3 children (a few years ago, it would have been 5) in a booster seat at the same time under this law. I'm not sure if you can even fit booster seats side-by-side on a bench seat. btw, they're saying that you need to be 4'9" to be out of a seat. There are fully-grown adults shorter than that.

If this law passes, how will a 1st-grade kid ride somewhere with a friend? Kids have to carry a booster seat to school with them just in case it's not their mom picking them up, but their dad or a sibling.

Here's a favorite saying "times have changed!!" And, they have!! I'd rather be safe than sorry!! Five point harness systems are the safest!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azgBhZfcqaQ

have survived, relatively unscathed, to live long, happy, and (dare i say it???) PRODUCTIVE LIVES. everyone who is over forty grew up without seatbelts of ANY KIND. no bicycle helmets, no car seats, none of that. and we are all just fine. a safe life is a dull and boring life. you have to take risks occasionally to learn how to handle risks, and one day, to MASTER RISK. safety is important, but sometimes, living is more important. and if you are completely safe, you haven't lived.

Be careful with that wild talk. You might find yourself in a reeducation camp. Jim Arvada, CO

If they really cared about the children, they would require all children 21 and younger to ride strapped to the rear floorboard in straitjackets, fire suits and crash helmets. Because if we can save just one child, it will all be worth it.

Yes, look at the children who survived! That's the caveat, isn't it? What about those who died because they weren't wearing seatbelts? Or who had their skulls cracked open because they weren't wearing a helmet? Just because you survived through providence doesn't mean that others didn't perish via the same reckless ways you're suggesting right now. No one is saying that we should wrap our kids in mattresses before they step out of the house, but putting forth pragmatic ideas on what can help save lives is a worthwhile pursuit regardless of all your bickering and sarcasm.

say 'enough is enough'? how far will you go to 'save the last life'? how far will you reach into free people's lives under the guise of 'saving the children'???

NOT look at those who survived. it's beware the insipid hand of the liberal, who wants into your life to control your every move, so that EVERYONE is as thoroughly controlled as they are, and NO ONE is free. THAT is the caveat. free men are responsible for their own safety.

to what they will try to control.

I'm stunned by the ignorance spewed in the posts on this issue. The proposed legislation is no different than what the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) recommends. I honestly did not know that Michigan does not require booster seats already. Every parent that I know with children of that age range already uses them to keep their kids safe. Unfortunately, from the posts here though, I see that people can not be expected to act in the best interest of their children voluntarily. They would rather moan and argue against the laws of physics and common sense than protect their children. What a sad state of affairs!

you must be four foot nine to NOT have to use a car seat, what happens to all those people UNDER four foot nine? do THEY have to start using car seats again? awful tough to drive in one of those, don't you think? how about letting PARENTS decide what's best for THEIR kids?

were YOU ridden around in a car seat when you were young? were YOU ever in a booster seat? did YOUR KIDS stay in their car seats till they were four foot nine? i didn't think so...

"from the posts here though, I see that people can not be expected to act in the best interest of their children voluntarily.' So because I don't want the nanny government to lead me around by the nose I won't do what's best for my kids? You are sick. It's folks like you that need a facist mommy to tell them what to do and not to do. I have raised 4 kids, who are doing extremely well mainly because their competition is a bunch of whiny 20 year olds that never take chances and want the government to protect them every step of the way. By the way, I always had the best car seats and booster seats that money could buy all without being ordered to.

I don't think that most of the people commenting here have a problem with booster seats. They have a problem with our legislature spending time on, and passing laws for, things that have already gotten most parents' attention. Frankly, if a parent hasn't heard about booster seats, passing a law requiring one isn't going to make that person use it.

What do we do about car pools for private schools, sports teams, lessons. Working parents need these things, high gas prices require these carpools. Grandma wants to pick up the kids from school?? What happened to Republicans who do not want to control your life? Do cops carry scales? Tape measures?

Stayed out of our life and raising our kids we would have less crime - Maybe they should spend my money (called taxes) on preventing the children from having children - then only the responsible parents wold have kids and we would not need all the stupid laws about how to care for the kids. We can't spank them too hard - they might be scared of us, we can't tell them not to get birthcontrol or not have sex - and we take away the parents' right to consent before the kids do it - instead we feed the kids at school every hour, make it impossible for the parents to disipline and wonder why we have a generation of child mothers, no fathers, criminals that are kids, failing schools, no jobs and FAT kids. Gee, I seem to think that when there were less regulations our kids were doing much better.

that some of you are against this!! My almost 6 year old still rides in a 5pt harness. I don't care if she wants to go somewhere with her friends. She can't! too bad. If grandma wants to pick her up, then she has to have a carseat in her car. My daughter and other children will stay in a 5pt harness until she can't anymore. Which will be when she outgrows the car seat. And then they will sit in a booster until they are 4ft9 AND atleast 90 pounds! I don't care it they are in middle school or highschool! that is how they are going in the car!

"were YOU ridden around in a car seat when you were young? were YOU ever in a booster seat? did YOUR KIDS stay in their car seats till they were four foot nine? i didn't think so..." Did YOU get in a car crash when you were small enough to be in a car seat or booster seat?

"I never even wore seat belt until I was 14 or 15.I personally hate the seat belt laws.I rode in the front seat right by my dad when I was a kid and we'd talk,share thoughts,and sometimes on a back road he'd let me drive....and having choice in our lives is gone forever." Well, if your dad had rear ended someone or gotten in a wreck, you would be dead. but its okay, cos the government is taking away choice in your life anyways, and who wants to live a life restrained by safety seats?

know the difference between a "recomendation and a state ordered mandate"? "no different than what the AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) recommends." The state is going to make alot of money off of this. If you think they care about you or your kids, you are delusional.

"It's For The Children" How can anyone be against this???????

for your service to the Safety Gestapo. You need to seek help

That my parents were abusing me when they let me ride in the back of the pickup. You people are so afraid of everything that you are raising a bunch of little wimps. You turn your kids into a bunch of scared of their shadow nanny dependant brats and then complain when little johnny can't do anything for himself. Twisted folks you are.

"if your dad had rear ended someone or gotten in a wreck" The sky is falling, The sky is falling If a meteor had hit your car you would be hurt also. Better get a helmet on your kid because alot more of them are hurt in the bathtub or falling on stairs. Do you know how many children we could protect if they would just wear their helmets everyday?

Do you wear your government mandated safety glasses and steel toed shoes everytime you work on someones crapper? This is a law. Maybe you need to be taught a lesson. Remember, you said "the government does know best"

I want what is best for my children and their safety. Michigan does not need more laws on the books. Why stop with child seats? Larger vehicles are safer than smaller vehicles in crash tests. Will our nanny legislators impose upon me the vehicle, the time and the where I must use to transport my children? It's a good thing for Mrs. McManus that the age limit was added to this legislation - but then again, maybe it was not coincidental.

I am an automotive interior designer, specializing in seating. In my work, I have seen many crash test films showing in gory detail, what happens to unbelted, or unsafely belted children. A 35 mph crash generates enormous forces which are difficult to imagine. A child without a belt is a lethal projectile. An improperly belted child often suffers internal damage, including severe kidney trauma, and neck lacerations from shoulder belts at the wrong height. This is a no-brainer, despite what the "I have parental rights to abuse my children if I want" crowd claims.

How much of your daily life do you want to give up to the govt? I work in the plumbling business and have seen in gory detail what happens when kids fall in tubs or get scalded. Do you want to outlaw hot water and bathtubs? I want to hear from all the good folks that work in the stair business, I'll bet they have some stories to tell. Maybe the idea of taking responsibility for your own life just scares the heck out of you. I want to make my own decisions. I don't need a new mommy, maybe you do. I have no trouble putting my kids and grandkids in a car seat and have always bought the best. What I don't like is this cradle to grave nanny govt that you and your type seem to want.

Taking a bath is not inherently dangerous. Propelling a child at 70 mph through the air is. I agree that there must be a balance between personal responsibility and government interference. However, in this case, the choice is clear. And it seems that all the representatives, Republican and Democrat, agree.

if taking a bath in not inherently dangerous, why do most injuries happen in the bathtub? far more than happen in the car. more children drown in the tub than die in car accidents.

if parents would pull thier heads out and do this on thier own then maybe the government wouldnt have to make it a law. its parents who would rather get to work 2 minutes faster than to take that same two minutes to buckle thier kid that make the government interfere. its already the reccomendation, but i cant even begin to tell you how many kids i see day after day at my sons preschool that arent even in a seatbelt!! sad. and to the plumber--its reccomended that parents turn thier hot water heaters down to 120 degrees. why do you think that is?? DUH. Sonya Mommy to three wonderful kids and CPST