New Georgia Law Designed To Prevent Injury To Children

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal has signed a new law requiring all children under the age of 7 to be placed in booster seats unless they are over 40 pounds in weight and/or stand more than 4 feet 9 inches tall. The new law will go into effect this coming January to give parents time to purchase booster seats if needed. The reason for the new law: Protection of our children. Authorities have tracked injuries to children over the last five years and have determined that the vast majority of children injured in car accidents were injured because they were not properly restrained. In short, children were receiving preventable injuries and hopefully this law will assist in decreasing those numbers.
Until the passage of this law, children under the age of six had to be placed in a booster seat. Again, statistical evidence showed that children between the ages of 6 and 7 needed the same protection and thus the new law is designed to provide that for them. Even if a parent uses a booster seat, it is important that a proper product be utilized because failure to use a good product can still result in injury. Indeed, there are many product liability cases that have been filed over the years against the manufacturers of children’s restrain systems as well as restraint systems in automobiles utilized for adults. The mere fact that a restraint system is used will not guarantee that someone will not sustain injuries. This new law hopefully will dramatically increase the chances of child safety and decrease the chances of preventable injuries.