Seatbelts

Seat belts help restrain occupants during the initial and any following collisions, if the vehicle strikes more than one object. Seatbelts help keep front seat occupants in position to maximize an air bag's effectiveness. Wearing a seatbelt is not only important for your safety, but also your children. Research shows that adults who wear their seat belts are more likely to require their children to wear their seat belts.

Washington's seat belt law was passed in 1986 as a secondary enforcement law which covered all vehicle occupants in all seating positions. The Washington Legislature passed an upgrade to this law changing it to primary enforcement during the 2002 legislative session. This change was effective June 13, 2002.

A seat belt ticket costs $124 and a driver can be ticketed for every unbuckled passenger in the car who is under age 16. Passengers aged 16 and older can be given their own seat belt ticket.

Washington has the highest seat belt usage in the country, at about 95%. To give an idea of how much a seat belt helps in an accident, consider that nearly half of fatal accidents involve victims who weren’t wearing a seat belt, even though only about 5% of vehicle occupants don’t wear them. Imagine how much more we could reduce death and serious injury on our highways by convincing that last 5% that buckling up is worth it.

Car Seats and Booster Seats

As of June 1, 2007 Washington has a new car seat law. Here’s an overview:

• All children under the age of 8 years old or under 4’9” tall must be restrained in an appropriate child restraint system. 
• Children under the age of 13 must ride in the back seat whenever it is practical to do so.
• Car seats must be installed and used according to the manufacturer’s specifications.

The new law does not have specific age or size requirements for rear-facing, forward-facing or booster seat use. Instead, the law requires the parent or guardian of the child to make sure that the seat is appropriate for the child’s size and age. Appropriate use can be determined by reading the car seat manual. Car seat manufacturers provide thorough instructions regarding the appropriate use of the seat.

We recommend that a child remain in a rear-facing car seat until at the maximum appropriate size for the seat. Rear-facing seats provide the maximum head support for a child in the even of a crash.

Read your car seat manual and vehicle owner’s manual thoroughly. If you still have questions about car seat installation, contact the traffic safety task force to set up an appointment to install your car seat. We can connect you with a trained car seat technician that can help you and answer any of your car seat questions. For expecting parents we offer a free class on how to properly install you new baby’s car seat.

Airbags

Airbags are made of three different components. The first is the air bag module, which contains both an inflator unit and the lightweight fabric air bag. The second are the crash sensors, which are located either in the front of the vehicle and/or in the passenger compartment. Vehicles can have one or more crash sensors. The sensors are typically activated by forces generated in significant frontal or near-frontal crashes. The third component is the diagnostic unit, which monitors the readiness of the air bag system. The unit is activated when the vehicle's ignition is turned on. If the unit identifies a problem, a warning light alerts the driver to take the vehicle to an authorized service department for examination of the air bag system.

Although airbags work in their own it is important to remember:

• Never put a rear-facing infant restraint in the front seat of a vehicle with a front passenger air bag.
• Children 12 and under should be properly restrained in a rear seat.
• Drivers should sit with at least 10 inches between the center of their breastbone and the center of the steering wheel.
• Front air bags are designed to deploy only in moderate to severe frontal or near-frontal collisions, and do not reduce the risk of injury in rear, side or rollover crashes.
• Safety belts help reduce injury risk in many types of crashes and help to keep occupants in the correct position.
• Air bags deploy only once. Remember, very close or direct contact with an air bag module during deployment can cause serious or even fatal injury.