Giving Alabama Law A Boost

Legislation was recently passed in Alabama that will require children up to age 6 to be in a child safety seat or booster seat, among other things. It's an improvement over a proposed law that would have set the age limit to age 12. (Personally, I would have thrown out the age limits and set a height/weight range.) The bill is set to be signed by Governor Riley.

What bugs me, and I hate that I didn't have the time and energy to devote to commenting sooner, is that the law leaves out a vital detail that could be the true difference between life and death. The law says nothing about the child seat being used according to manufacturer recommendations or being properly installed. Those are two very important things. If a child seat is not properly installed, it can become a dangerous projectile during a crash. And if your child is not properly latched in or does not fit the weight and height specifications for the seat, then your child could become a projectile if/when the harness breaks or comes off.

Wouldn't it have been a better idea if lawmakers had fully researched the idea before pulling a Langford to get a useless, election-year feel-good bill through?