ATTENTION FLORIDIANS

[jkrew]

On Tuesday @ 3:30PM, the Senate Committee on Criminal Justice will hear Booster Seat Bill, SB 316, sponsored by Senator Altman. This is the second committee that this Bill faces in the Senate. It passed in the Senate Transportation Committee unanimously last month. As I result, I kindly ask for your help with three actions. Please note, calls are more powerful than any other means of communication with the Legislature. If you can call and email, this is even more powerful.
1. Please ask the members of the Senate Committe on Criminal Justice to support SB 316, the Booster Seat Bill.
Senate Committee on Criminal Justice
Chair: Senator Paula Dockery (R) [phone] [e-mail]
Vice Chair: Senator Frederica S. Wilson (D) [phone] [e-mail]
Senator Victor D. Crist (R) [phone] [e-mail]
Senator Charles S. "Charlie" Dean, Sr. (R) [phone] [e-mail]
Senator Ted Deutch (D) [phone] [e-mail]
Senator Gary Siplin (D) [phone] [e-mail]
Senator John Thrasher (R) [phone] [e-mail]
Senator J. Alex Villalobos (R) [phone] [e-mail]
Also, we need this Bill to move in the House.
Please call members of theHouse Roads, Bridges & Ports Policy Committee.
2. Please ask the Chair to put it on the Committee's next agenda.
3. Ask the committee members to support HB 387 (companion bill).
House Roads, Bridges & Ports Policy Committee
Chair: Aubuchon, Gary (R) [phone] [e-mail]
Vice Chair: Workman, Ritch (R) [phone] [e-mail]
(D) Ranking Member: Gibson, Audrey (D) [phone] [e-mail]
Clarke-Reed, Gwyndolen (D) [phone] gwyn.clarke- reed@myfloridaho use.gov
Ford, Clay (R) [phone] clay.ford@myflorida house.gov
Horner, Mike (R) [phone] [e-mail]
Patronis, Jimmy (R) [phone] [e-mail]
Precourt, Stephen L. (R) [phone] [e-mail]
Ray, Lake (R) [phone] [e-mail]
Robaina, Julio (R) [phone] [e-mail]
Rogers, Hazelle P. (D) [phone] [e-mail]
Steinberg, Richard L. (D) [phone] [e-mail]
Taylor, Dwayne L. (D) [phone] [e-mail]
Thompson, Nicholas R. (R) [phone] [e-mail]
The next & last Senate committee the Bill faces is the Committee on Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations.
In the House, it has to clear 3 committees:
Roads, Bridges, & Ports Policy (EDCA)
Full Appropriations Council on Education & Economic Development
Economic Development & Community Affairs Policy Council

FYI - The link to actual bill & talking points are below.
Thanks for your support,
If you want to read the actual Booster Seat Bill, click: http://www.flsenate.gov/session/index.cfm?BI_Mode=ViewBillInfo&Mode=Bills&ElementID=JumpToBox&SubMenu=1&Year=2010&billnum=316
Or go to www.flsenate. gov or www.flhouse. gov & type in the bill numbers.

Here are some talking points.
1) 47 States have a Booster Seat Law. It is time Florida show that children are our most valued asset by placing safety first.
2) Florida spends $6.5 million dollars per year in treating injuries due to auto accidents for children 4 to 8 years of age.
3) Every booster seat purchased saves $1800 in medical bills, quality of life measures, time lost from work, etc. (Booster seats are not cost-prohibitive. An adequate booster seat can be purchased for as little as $30).
4) Florida averages 22 automobile accident-related deaths per year for children 4 to 8 years of age.
5) Booster seats are needed to prevent children, who have outgrown their car seats, from suffering brain, spinal cord, and internal abdominal injuries.
6) Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death and acquired disabilities in children between 4 to 8 years of age.
7) Children 4 to 8 years of age are 4 times more likely to suffer head/brain injuries and 3 times more likely to suffer severe abdominal injuries when restrained according to present Florida law (only with a seat belt) vs. when they are restrained appropriately with a booster seat.
8) 40% of children 4 to 8 years of age are not properly restrained in an automobile (i.e. restrained with either a car seat or booster seat).

 

Here is a compacted list of the committee members:

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And here is an article you can c and p if you want to use it.....

As a Florida resident, mother and car safety advocate, I implore you to pass the proposed legislation relating to SB 316, the Booster Seat Bill.

Florida is one of the only states remaining that does not have laws to protect our children in cars from the ages of 4-8 years of age.  It is time that Florida puts our most valuable asset first and mandate their safety in motor vehicles.  Data has conclusively shown that children from 4 to 8 years of age are under-protected in vehicles and this law would be the first step in mandating our children though age 8 ride safely in our state.  The chart on the University of Michigan's Department of Surgery website (http://surgery.med.umich.edu/portal/clinical/booster) clearly shows how abdominal injuries sharply rise as our optimal restraints through age 9 sharply drops off at age 4. 

Do you realize that Florida spends $6.5 million dollars per year treating injuries due to auto accidents for children 4-8 years of age?  Do you know that every booster seat purchased saves $1800 in medical bills, quality of life measures, time lost from work, etc... Do you know that Florida averages 22 automobile accident-related deaths per year for children 4-8 years of age? 

A parent purchasing a simple $15 booster would prevent children who have outgrown their car seats from suffering brain, spinal cord and internal abdominal injuries in an accident.  This is because children 4 to 8 years of age are 4 times more likely to suffer head/brain injuries and 3 times more likely to suffer severed abdominal injuries when when restrained according to present Florida law (only with a seat belt) vs. when they are restrained appropriately with a booster seat.  Parents do not know this information and take the state's lack of a booster law to mean that their 4 to 8 year old children riding in only a seat belt is safe, when it is clearly not.

Forty percent of children 4 to 8 years of age are not properly restrained in an automobile.  Motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death and acquired disabilities in children between 4 to 8 years of age.  It is high time the state of Florida protects those children. Please do the right thing.  Give Florida a booster law. 

Sincerely,