Utah Legislature: House kills booster-seat bill

SALT LAKE CITY — A bill failed in the House Wednesday that would have excused children ages 5 to 8 from sitting in child restraint seats if a vehicle ride is four or fewer miles from home and no faster than 45 mph.

HB113, sponsored by Chris Herrod, R-Provo, went down 47-24.

For Herrod, the issue was a matter of pragmatics and ideology. It would be more practical from a safety standpoint to allow a neighbor to give his child a lift home, even if the neighbor didn't have a booster seat, than to have the child walk home alone. Child restraint seats discourage carpooling and even grandparents from transporting children, he said.

Some Republicans supported Herrod's ideological stance as did the conservative Utah Eagle Forum.

"The question really is, do we as a legislative body need to make that decision, or do we allow someone else to make that decision," said Rep. Lorie Fowlke, R-Orem, referring to parents' rights trumping government rules.

However, the measure was unpopular among lawmakers and health professionals who worried about safety.

Seat belts are designed to protect the bones of adults, Utah pediatrician Jennifer Brinton said, but children are shorter and the belts sit over their internal organs unless they are boosted with a restraint seat.

"If there is a big crash, the seat belt is holding you back near the intestines, liver and spleen," she said. "We've had kids where they've lost all their intestines. Sometimes they can even have their spine snapped."

Children who are not restrained can die at relatively slow speeds, officials said. And if two vehicles travelling at 45 mph collide, the impact could be similar to 90 mph.

If HB113 were to pass, the state could risk losing $151,700 a year in federal money for training, education and purchasing child restraint seats for people unable to afford them, said Janet Brooks, child advocacy manager at Primary Children's Medical Center.

Rep. Richard Greenwood, R-Roy, said his experiences with the Utah Highway Patrol of having to tell families their children are dead were miserable. "I'm going to err in favor of the child," he said, explaining his no vote.

Layton mother Stacy Ford said she doesn't put her 5-year-old son in a restraining seat when running him to day care two houses away. But when she leaves the neighborhood, she puts him in the seat, even when the speeds are low.

"I figure, most accidents happen close to home," she said.

Herrod said the bill might not have a future in the 2010 Legislature because so many lawmakers opposed it, but he plans to study the votes and evaluate whether it could be resurrected in a form that would pass.

e-mail: lhancock@desnews.com