I am here today to help California improve its child passenger safety law. As David noted, California was a leader on this issue back in 2000, but many States have since surpassed California’s law.

In our 1996 study of child passenger safety issues, the Safety Board determined that not only does restraint use matter, but proper restraint use matters. Of the crashes we investigated, we found that all properly restrained children survived their crashes, and children inappropriately restrained by seat belts had higher overall injury severity.

The Safety Board concluded that using a booster seat is a necessary intermediate step that helps properly position seat belts. Based on our findings, we asked all States to mandate that children under age 8 travel in child safety seats or booster seats.

Also in our 1996 investigation, the Safety Board found that a greater percentage of children in the front seat suffered injuries than those children riding in the back. Other research has shown that moving children to the back seat cuts a child's risk of injury by one-third. The fact is that the back seat is safer for all of us, but children are especially at risk, particularly because of air bags. Yes, today's air bags are more advanced and can adjust deployment according to a person’s size, position to the air bag, and restraint use, but motor vehicles with older air bags remain in circulation. The Board recommends that States require all children age 12 and under to travel in the back.

California was one of the first States to respond to our recommendations; because of California’s leadership, there are now 35 States and the District of Columbia, which mandate booster seats for children who are too big for traditional child safety seats. But of those 35 States, only 13 have laws that cover the entire age-range we recommend (age 4 through 7), and California isn’t one of them.

As for back seat laws, we have not had anywhere near the success in getting laws to match best practice. Only 15 States, including California, have mandated back seat use, and only the law in the State of Washington fully implements the Safety Board’s recommendation of back seat use for children 12-years-old and younger.

It’s time for California to once again take the lead. By successfully upgrading your child passenger safety law, you will show 36 other States that this is no time to sit idly by; more work needs to be done! And once that law is passed, back it up with good education and enforcement. It takes all three parts to make a difference.

In 2004, more than 150 children age 6 and 7 were killed while riding in motor vehicles on our nation’s roadways. Ten of those children were in California. In that same year, more than 200 children age 6 through age 12 were killed while riding in the front seat of a motor vehicle. Fifteen were in California. While these numbers seem small, I want to emphasize 2 very important facts.

First, motor vehicle crashes remain the number one cause of fatal injury for people age 4 through age 34, including those children who will be covered by Assembly Bill 2108. Second, no number is too small, not when it is your child. Not when something can be done about it! That’s why improving child passenger safety laws has been and remains on the Safety Board’s list of “Most Wanted” safety recommendations. It’s our priority; today, we ask California’s legislators to make it theirs!

One group that does not need to be convinced to make child passenger safety a priority is the law enforcement community. I would like to introduce Officer Traci Rebiejo from the Livermore Police Department. Officer Rebiejo is a Traffic Education Police Officer and NHTSA Child Passenger Safety Technician Instructor, something she has done for the last 9 years.