NC lawmakers set to discuss changes to child car seat law

State law covering child safety seats in cars could be about to change.

A bill expected to go before the NC House this week would update the rules for which children need to ride in a safety or booster seat, and where in a vehicle they can ride.

The changes could mean some kids will need to return to using a car booster seat if the measure becomes law.

House Bill 368 comes from the NC Child Fatality Task Force, an advisory panel that makes policy recommendations to lower the number of children who die each year in North Carolina.

Current state law on child safety seats goes by a child’s age or weight. When a child reaches the age of 8 years old or 80 pounds, regardless of how tall they are, they can use a regular seat belt instead of a child safety seat or booster seat.

But the law doesn’t take into account the height of the child, and height is very important in terms of how a shoulder safety belt fits. Think about amusement park rides: they go by how tall a child is, not how much they weigh, to determine if they can ride safely.

Kids are also getting bigger and heavier these days, so it’s more likely that a child could weigh 80 pounds but not yet be tall enough to be safely restrained by a regular shoulder belt.

The bill also spells out how a shoulder belt should fit a child to be considered a safe restraint.

The changes would also affect the smallest passengers.

Child safety advocates recommend that infants ride in the backseat in a rear-facing safety seat. But state law doesn’t currently require it.

Under H368, newborns would have to be secured in a rear-facing seat in the backseat – never in the front seat of a car with an active passenger air bag system unless the car seat is designed to work with front air bags, according to the manufacturer and the federal safety label.

As child passengers get older, they would be able to transition to front-facing seats and booster seats following federal labeling on the car seat.

If the bill passes the state house this week, it still would need to pass the state senate – and likely get the governor’s approval – before becoming law.