The Eugene Police Traffic Enforcement Unit is participating in the statewide enforcement campaign called “3-Flags,” which will run August 31 through September 13.
The 3-Flags Traffic Safety Campaign is a selective traffic enforcement program designed to reduce the number of motor vehicle related deaths and injuries. The campaign’s goal is to increase public awareness about the laws regarding the three of the most prevalent factors contributing to traffic crash injuries: safety restraint use, speed, and impaired drivers.
- According to the US Department of Transportation, consistent safety belt use is the single most effective way to protect people and reduce fatalities in motor vehicle crashes. In 2008, Oregon had a seatbelt use rate of over 96 percent. This is significant because statewide crash and fatality rates have dropped 46 percent and 44 percent respectively since passage of the adult belt law in 1990.
- Lack of belt use was a major factor in half of Oregon’s traffic deaths last year. One in three children under age eight who were killed or injured in crashes were using adult restraint systems (231 children) or were totally unrestrained (16 children) rather than riding in child seats appropriate for their size.
- Speeding and driver impairment were the other most common causes injury crashes.
Motorists should wear seatbelts must in the manner for which they were designed in order to be in compliance with the law. Wearing a shoulder belt under your arm is against the law and can result in being issued a citation.
Here is a reminder about current child safety seat laws:
Infants are required to ride in rear-facing safety seats until they reach both one year of age AND twenty pounds. Children over one year old AND between 20 and 40 pounds must be properly secured with a forward-facing child safety seat. Children who weigh over 40 pounds must be properly secured in a booster seat until they are 8 years old OR 4′9 in height. Children who are at least 8 years old or 4′9 tall may graduate to an adult safety belt, but only if it fits them properly.
If you would like to receive assistance with the proper installation of your child safety seats, please call the Eugene Police Traffic Enforcement Unit at 541.682.5157 to make an appointment.
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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
I am all for wearing seatbelts, and can’t imagine not properly restraining a child, but this rule is dumb “Infants are required to ride in rear-facing safety seats until they reach both one year of age AND twenty pounds.” Both of my children were over 20 pounds and exceeded the rating for their rear facing seat by the time they were nine months old. I had no choice but to break the law and put them in forward facing.
Thanks for your comment. Yes, that does seem strange. You’d think it would state “or” instead of “and” in the rule. I’m going to check into to that…stay tuned.
I checked with the EPD. Here’s what Jenna LaBounty, public information coordinator for the Eugene Police Department, says in response:
Jenna also shared this site –> http://www.childsafetyseat.org –> a resource for additional information about car seats. Jenna’s contact info: 541.682.5197.
Myquealer – my baby is 20 pounds at 6 months. We bought a Britax car seat once she was too big for the newborn one with the pop-out seat because I had read about the rear-facing issue and want to keep her rear-facing as long as possible. Car seat manufacturers who do not make their limitations clear enough up front are to blame here, IMO. I think this is a very common problem. I was shocked that we needed a new car seat at only 3 months old, then found it very difficult to figure out which seat to buy next because of all the different ratings and requirements. Could EPD make a list of recommendations? Or does anyone know of a group or site that lays it all out?
.-= Rose´s last blog ..Our breastfeeding story =-.
Here are a few resources you could try…
http://www.nhtsa.gov/portal/nhtsa_eou/info.jsp?type=all
http://carseatblog.com/?page_id=401
http://www.carseatsite.com
http://community.babycenter.com/groups/a7645/car_seat_questions
http://www.carseat.org
http://www.car-seat.org
http://www.seatcheck.net
It has been a couple years since we changed our younger kid to forward facing, so I’m cloudy on the details. I think they outgrew the handy infant seat you can carry with you by the time they were six months old. And were too big for the convertible car seat (can be used forward or rear facing) rear-facing rating (which was more than 20 pounds, though I don’t recall what it was) before they turned a year-old.
At the time I looked into other carseats that could be used rear-facing and did not find any/many that had a higher rating than ours. Plus, even if I found one, buying yet another carseat to be used for only a couple months did not appeal to me.
I realize my kids are freakishly large and this is an edge case. Accounting for it would make the wording for the law more complex and harder to understand for the 99% of parents with “more normal” kids.
What is being done to address the poor actions and decisions of pedestrians, and their detriments to overall traffic safety?
If you have a specific complaint about car seats, file it here: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/ivoq