Keeping kids safe while moving is a top priority in Portland as the Police Bureau and OHSU Doernbecher Children's Hospital release an important new public service video. The collaboration aims to clarify when and how to transition their children through different stages of car safety seats. Ensuring compliance with Oregon's car seat laws—which dictate specific requirements based on a child's age, weight, and height—this initiative hopes to make the roads safer for our littlest passengers.
In the instructional video, which was detailed in a release by the Portland Police Bureau, Sgt. Betsy Hornstein and Dr. Ben Hoffman, a pediatrics professor at OHSU and president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, explain the need to follow and exceed state regulations where beneficial. "We want to keep children safe in vehicles, but our traffic officers often find that children are not in the most appropriate safety seat for their height, weight and age," Hornstein conveyed in the release. Dr. Hoffman echoes this, adding, "It’s important for families to make sure that their car seat or booster seat meets current U.S. safety standards."
Despite the meticulous legal framework, the PSA aims to address an unsettling trend: the rise of counterfeit car seats sold online. These illegitimate products pose a grave danger as they fail to protect children during crashes. Spotting a gap in awareness and education, authorities are stepping up to educate caregivers on identifying certified car seats from trusted retailers to avoid inadvertently compromising their children's safety.
The video demonstrates how parents can correctly judge if their child is ready to transition to the next stage—mainly a booster seat. Dr. Hoffman outlines that kids "must be able to sit comfortably with the seat belt fit across their shoulder/chest and over their lap without fidgeting or moving or unbuckling the seatbelt." This advice aligns with the nuanced guidance that safety seats are not just about following a one-size-fits-all mandate; they're about acknowledging each child's unique growth pattern and ensuring the most effective protection at every stage, per the Portland Police Bureau.
