On January 1, 2008, new rules will come into effect that will help keep young children protected from serious injury. That’s when the province’s new booster seat regulations will become law.
Under the new rules, children who weigh 18 kilograms (40 pounds) or more must be in a booster seat if they are nine years of age or under and shorter than 145 centimetres (4' 9"). Until now, those rules were only recommendations.
“We feel these new rules will provide more incentive for parents to use booster seats to keep their children safe from harm,” says Minister of Transportation and Public Works Ron MacKinley. “The only way to protect children from the dangers of collisions or sudden stops is to make sure they are properly restrained.”
Every year, approximately 10,000 young children are injured, some fatally, in traffic collisions across the country. It is known that as many as one-third of Canadian children are not properly restrained when travelling in motor vehicles.
“We applaud the provincial government for its efforts to keep Island children safe from harm,” says Valerie Lee from the Infant and Toddler Safety Association. “Far too often we hear stories about children who were hurt or killed because they weren’t properly restrained. Hopefully this new law will help prevent that from happening on Prince Edward Island.”
The new rules mean that about 7,000 children on the Island will now be required to use booster seats. A recent survey indicates that across the country only 28 percent of Canadian families use booster seats for children between 4 and 9 years old.