MINNEAPOLIS, 1:35 p.m. CDT February 21, 2007 -- A proposal to require all children under 8 years old to use a car safety seat passed the Senate Wednesday.

The MMA supports the proposal, which strengthens the current law that only requires child restraint systems for kids under four years old. The Senate voted 49 to 17 in favor of the bill.

Thomas Hellmich, M.D., an emergency pediatrician at Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, testified about this issue on Feb. 13, on behalf of the Minnesota Medical Association and the American and the Academy of Pediatrics, Minnesota Chapter.

Hellmich stressed that children ages 4 to 8 years old are safer using a belt positioning booster seat than just a seat belt. Because of this, he favored passage of the bill (SF 122), which would require booster seats.

As a pediatrician, he spends time educating parents about the need for booster seats, but the current state law misleads parents into believing seatbelts are a safe option for their young children.

Whereas, a June 2003 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that the odds of injury were 59 percent lower for kids between 4 years and 7 years old in belt positioning booster seats than in seat belts. Children in the study had no injuries to the abdomen, neck, spine, back or lower extremities whereas children in seatbelts alone had injuries to all body regions.

Children in just seatbelts are four times more likely to suffer head or brain injury as compared to children who are properly restrained in a belt positioning booster seat, he said.

In the United States, only about 30 percent of children ages 4 to 8 years old are currently using booster seats, according to a Boost America survey,

Minnesota lags behind on this issue, since 38 states have stronger child passenger restraint laws.