WV HAS NEW SEATBELT LAW FOR CHILDREN

(06/01/2005)
A new study emphasizes what every parent must know.

Children are safer in car crashes when they sit in the back seat and are less likely to be injured when safety seats and seat belts are used.

A recent car wreck near Grantsville caused several small children, reportedly unrestrained, to be ejected from the vehicle across the highway.

Fortunately, they all survived.

Flaura Winston, who is also a pediatrician, says using a car seat in the back is the single most important lifesaving decision parents can make.

The latest findings are based on information from more than 370,000 State Farm policyholders involved in car crashes.

The West Virginia Legislature last month approved Governor Manchin's bill to change the state's mandatory child safety seat law.

The bill requires safety seats for all children under age eight and less than four-feet-nine-inches tall. The previous law allowed seat belts for children age four and older if they weigh more than 40 pounds.