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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JUNE 13, 2005

Province Urges Parents to Get Ready for Booster Seat Law

Booster Seats Save Lives - Mandatory for Young Children September 1, 2005

TORONTO, April 18 /CNW/ - The Ontario government is reminding drivers that booster seats will soon be mandatory for young children, Transportation Minister Harinder Takhar announced today while launching the Annual Spring Seatbelt Campaign.

"We know that when kids are in child seats or booster seats, the risk of injury or death is reduced by 75 percent," said Takhar. "Unfortunately, 15 per cent of children aged five to nine are not secured at all. The simple fact is that by making child seats, booster seats and seatbelts second nature, we can save lives."

The Ontario government's Bill 73, An Act to Enhance the Safety of Children and Youth on Ontario's Roads, was passed in December 2004. New regulations expected to take effect on September 1, 2005, will:

• Require more drivers, such as grandparents and babysitters, to ensure that children are properly secured
• Make booster seats mandatory for what many road safety experts call "the forgotten children" - those who are too big for child car seats, yet too small to be properly protected by seatbelts
• Assign two demerit points, and a $110 fine for failing to use booster or child car seats, or for using them incorrectly.

"Car crashes are the number one cause of death for Canadian children," said Minister of Children and Youth Services, Marie Bountrogianni. "Booster seats are the vital next step in protecting children who have outgrown their child car seat but are still too small for a seatbelt."

To help parents ensure their child car seat or booster seat is installed and used properly, community groups will host child car seat inspection clinics during the Spring Seatbelt Campaign. Caregivers can log on to the MTO website or contact their local public health unit, listed in the blue pages of the phone book, for information on upcoming clinics in their area.

"In conjunction with legislation, teaching parents how to use car and booster seats correctly is a critical step in protecting our children from serious injury," says Allyson Hewitt, executive director, Safe Kids Canada, the national injury prevention program of The Hospital for Sick Children. The province is moving to better protect society's most vulnerable on
Ontario's roads.

Police will also hold seatbelt spot checks this week. During the Fall 2004 Seatbelt Campaign, the OPP checked 471,553 adult seatbelts resulting in 8,520 charges, and also checked 5,610 child seatbelts/child car seats, leading to 271 charges.

This year's Spring Seatbelt Campaign runs from April 16-24.

Backgrounder
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PROTECTING CHILDREN AND YOUTH ON ONTARIO'S ROADS

The Ontario Legislature passed An Act to Enhance the Safety of Children and Youth on Ontario's Roads, Bill 73, in December 2004.

Upcoming changes to child car seat legislation

New regulations expected to take effect on September 1, 2005, will amend
the Highway Traffic Act to:

• Require more drivers, such as grandparents and babysitters, to use
  child car seats or booster seats when transporting children
• Require booster seats for small children who have outgrown child car
  seats but are still too small to be fully protected by seatbelts alone
• Assign two demerit points, a $90 set fine and a $20 victim fine
  surcharge for failing to use booster or child car seats, or for using
  them incorrectly

When to use a rear-facing infant car seat

Newborns and small infants weighing less than 9 kg (20 lbs) should be
secured in a rear-facing car seat.

When to use a forward-facing car seat

Use a forward-facing car seat - with a tether strap to better anchor the
seat - to secure toddlers who:

• Weigh between 9 kg and 18 kg (20-40 lb.)
• Are able to pull themselves up to a standing position
• Are about one year old

When to use a booster seat

Children are safest riding in a booster seat when they:

• Weigh between 18 kg and 36 kg (40-80 lb.)
• Are less than 145 cm (57 inches or 4 feet, 9 inches) tall
• Up to 8 years old

When to secure a child with a seatbelt

A child can be properly protected by a seatbelt alone when they:

• Have had their eighth birthday, or
• Are at least 145 cm (57 inches or 4 feet, 9 inches) tall, or
• Weigh more than 36 kg (80 lb.)

When a child can sit against the vehicle seat - back with legs bent
comfortably over the edge of the seat, and the shoulder belt lies flat across
shoulder and chest, the child is the proper size to be fully protected by an
adult seatbelt.

Children under 13 years of age are safest in the rear seat of a vehicle,
away from active airbags. Drivers are responsible for ensuring passengers
under 16 years of age are properly secured.

Exemptions

Vehicles such as taxis, Public Vehicles, buses, emergency vehicles,
vehicles on short-term lease, and vehicles from other jurisdictions will be
exempt from the new child car seat regulations.

Child car seat inspection clinics

To help parents ensure their child car seat is installed and used properly, parents can attend one of many child car seat inspection clinics being held across the province during the Spring Seatbelt Campaign. Caregivers can log on to the MTO website or call their local public health unit, listed in the blue pages of the phone book, for details on upcoming clinics in their area.

In the United States, 29 states plus Washington, D.C., require booster seats. Quebec is the only other Canadian jurisdiction with a booster seat law.

The province is moving to better protect society's most vulnerable on Ontario's roads. Safer roads help build strong communities.

Disponible en français

www.mto.gov.on.ca

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For further information: Contacts: Danna O'Brien, Minister's Office,
(416) 327-1815; Bob Nichols, Communications Branch, (416) 327-1158

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