According to a report on MSNBC.com, injuries to New York kids aged 4 to 6 from vehicle crashes went down after a state law required that age group to ride in booster seats. While other studies have shown that booster seats provide the best protection for this age group, this is the first time a study has looked at injury reduction by comparing injury rates before and after a state law change.
As a child passenger safety technician, and as a parent who worked to pass a booster law in my own state, this study pleases me on several levels. It's always good to see injury rates going down, but the demonstrated increase in booster use in New York also shows that many parents do respond to booster laws. Whether the parents do so happily or not, if the end result is fewer injuries to children, I count that as major success.
The study took data from the two years prior to the state law change and compared them to the three years following, according to MSNBC. Injury rates for kids age 4 to 6 went down by 18 percent, while booster usage went up from 29 percent to 50 percent. The study is from the New York State Department of Health and was published in Pediatrics.