The objective of this study was to evaluate the implementation of State booster seat laws (enhanced child restraint laws) and examine the most effective strategies that law enforcement agencies can use to enforce booster seat laws. The research included a literature review; update of the status of the Nation’s booster seat laws; evaluation of enforcement strategies and activities among law enforcement agencies; and recommendations for booster seat law enforcement techniques that appear to be the most effective in terms of practical LEA operations and volume of citations written for the number of hours worked. Eight law enforcement agencies from Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania participated. All the law enforcement agencies received brief training in child occupant protection, used an enforcement card with a description of all child restraint (CR) laws, followed an enforcement schedule during the project’s 6 month enforcement period (March to September 2008), and attended debriefings. Checkpoints and dedicated roving patrols were used by law enforcement agencies in New Jersey, and produced a large number of booster seat and other child restraint law citations. Dedicated roving patrols, dedicated stationary patrols, and routine patrols were used in Delaware and Pennsylvania. The study also examined a similar, ongoing enforcement program in Grant County, Washington. During debriefings, officers indicated that the most effective approaches for enforcing booster seat laws depend on the following: top management support (and resources to support dedicated booster seat law enforcement programs); a primary booster seat law; enforcement methods that are dedicated to booster seat and other child restraint laws and involve checkpoints, dedicated roving patrols, or stationary spots; training; and enforcement cards. Barriers that can inhibit enforcement of booster seat and other child restraint laws, include: weaknesses of booster seat laws (secondary law); inefficient methods (routine patrol, limited staff resources); physical barriers (obstructed views due to: glare, tinted windows); officer discretion issues (extra costs to the drivers associated with multiple child restraint law tickets, inability to identify age of booster-seat-age children, especially 6- and 7-year-olds); and the roadway environment. (Author/publisher)
Abstract