The bill requires children under eight years old and less than four feet, nine inches tall to be properly secured in a child booster seat while riding in a car.
TRAVERSE CITY -- Northern Michigan children will soon travel more securely inside of a car.
That's because Thursday, Governor Granholm signed a booster seat bill into law, requiring children under the age of eight and less than four feet nine inches tall to be properly placed in a booster seat while riding in a car.
A public education officer at the Grand Traverse Rural Fire Department, Jim Carroll says the new state law is crucial for children who've outgrown their regular car seats.
"They're boosting the child up so that the belt goes across their hips and across their collarbone, were as if they were without the seat, the belt would go across most likely the belly where there's soft tissue and lots of damage can be done," says Carroll.
AAA car seat technician Cheryl Dunson, says the law also provides a level of comfort for children as well.
"A lot of kids when they reach the age of eight are just at the point where they can safely sit in an adult seat and an adult seat belt without slouching. In making themselves more comfortable, the booster seat just helps them," says Dunson.
And Dunson stresses, the perfect booster seat for a child is the one that parents use correctly every time they put their child in the car, whether it's a seat for an older child or one for a younger child.
"Really it's a seat that their child is going to sit in properly every time they get in the car and one that they're going to be comfortable using," says Dunson.
To make sure drivers follow through with the booster seat law, state police tell 7&4 News that people can be ticketed for failing to properly restrain a child.
"It's a primary law so they don't need a reason to pull you over for anything else, they can pull you over just to check your car seats," says Carroll.
To make sure your child is properly secured in a booster seat, AAA and the Grand Traverse Rural Fire Department provide free booster seat checks twice a month. You can also contact the North Shore Safe Kids MSU Extension for more information on booster seat safety.
