BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2585
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 16, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION
Bonnie Lowenthal, Chair
AB 2585 (Nestande) - As Introduced: February 24, 2012
SUBJECT : Vehicles: child passenger restraints
SUMMARY : Reinstates 6 years and 60 pounds as the maximum age
and weight for mandatory use of child safety restraint systems
motor vehicles.
EXISTING LAW : Requires that children riding in a motor vehicle,
with certain exceptions, be restrained in a child passenger
restraint system (car seat or booster) until they reach age
eight or four feet nine inches tall or taller.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : According to the author, this bill was the winner of
the Assemblyman's recent There Ought Not to be a Law contest.
The constituent who submitted the bill idea noted that parents
and others complained heavily when the Legislature passed and
the Governor signed SB 929 (Evans) Chapter 474, Statutes of 2011
that changed the child safety seat requirement, increasing the
age from 6 to 8 and replacing the weight requirement with a
height requirement.
According to the author, many were upset that the state sought
to further regulate people's everyday life when the state is
faced with other pressing matters. Further, the author cites
that most parents do not know or abide by child safety seat laws
and that the primary issue is not lack of regulation but rather
the lack of public awareness. The author's website indicates
that the primary intention for this bill is to repeal laws that
are ineffective and inefficient.
Last year when SB 929 was being debated in the Legislature,
supporters argued that California's child passenger safety laws
did not adequately protect children ages six and seven. As
evidence, they cited the National Highway Transportation Safety
Administration recommendations that children who have outgrown
car seats with an internal harness (usually at about four years
old), continue to ride in booster seats until they reach age
eight years or until they are four feet nine inches tall or
AB 2585
Page 2
taller, since booster seats help to ensure that the safety belt
is positioned properly across the child and restrains, rather
than injures, the child when an accident occurs. Supporters
also argued that this low cost requirement substantially reduces
the risk of injury and death when a vehicle is involved in a
crash.
The child advocacy group Partners for Child Passenger Safety
(PCPS) has reported that car crash injuries are the leading
cause of death and acquired disability in children between ages
four and eight and that children ages four through seven, in
states with booster seat laws, were 39% more likely to be
appropriately restrained than in states without such laws. PCPS
also provides statistics showing that booster seat use for
children ages four through seven decreased the risk of injury by
59% as compared to the use of seat belts alone.
By passing SB 929, California joined 38 other states and the
District of Columbia who have enacted similar provisions to
address the use of booster seats for children who have outgrown
their child safety seats but are too small to use an adult seat
belt safely. California also became eligible for federal
transportation funds for public education programs and programs
to provide no-cost and low-cost booster seats to families in
need.
Related legislation : AB 1452 (Hill) of 2012 would require
medical facilities, when discharging children under the age of 8
or younger to provide additional child safety seat information
to parents and guardians.
SB 929 (Evans) Chapter 474, Statutes of 2011, provided that
children remain in booster seats an additional two years until
they reach age eight or four feet nine inches tall or taller.
SB 42 (Speier) Chapter 84, Statutes of 2001, required children
less than six years of age or weighing less than 60 pounds to
use a booster seat.
AB 1697 (Pavley) Chapter 524, Statutes of 2003, required
children under six years of age or under 60 pounds to be
properly secured in a child passenger restraint system in the
back seat of a vehicle.
AB 2108 (Evans) of 2006, would have increased the age
AB 2585
Page 3
requirement for children to be restrained by a child passenger
restraint system in the rear seat of a vehicle from the current
six years of age to 8 years old as well as removing the current
60 pound weight limit. That bill was vetoed by the Governor who
stated in his veto message that education of and compliance with
existing laws is a better way to protect children.
AB 881 (Mullin) of 2007, would have increased the maximum age of
children would be required to be restrained by a child passenger
restraint system in the rear seat of a vehicle from the current
six years of age to under 8 years old or four feet nine inches
tall. That bill was again vetoed by the Governor.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
None on file
Opposition
American Academy of Pediatrics
Automobile Club of Southern California
California Alliance of YMCAs
California Poison Control System
California Coalition for Children's Safety & Health
Children's Specialty Care Coalition
Fresno Council on Child Abuse Prevention
Loma Linda University Medical Center and Children's Hospital
Safe Kids California
Safe Kids, Ventura California
Analysis Prepared by : Victoria Alvarez / TRANS. / (916) 319-
2093