According to an LNP editorial : “Pennsylvania Legislature taking proper steps to ensure childrens’ safety”:
“In late May, Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf signed Senate Bill 1152, which requires drivers to place children under 2 years old in a rear-facing car seat. The law will take effect Aug. 12. The current law requires children under 4 years old to be in a car seat, whether the seat faces forward or backward…
“But the Journal of Injury Prevention released statistics from the U.S. Highway Traffic Safety Administration that found children younger than 2 who were in a crash were less likely to be injured if they were in a rear-facing seat, rather than a forward-facing seat.”
This may be a too simplistic an approach to the matter. Educators have been encouraging parents who carry children on their chest to face two year olds forward so their brain receive important stimulus. We suspect the same holds true for when they ride in a car.
Also, instead of interacting with family members, the child simply stares at the back seat. Hmm.
The idea may please the editors of LNP. We doubt that it will the children.
There are risks in childhood, indeed in every stage of life. Over protecting children at playgrounds and in cars may be a precaution not worth taking.
Thank goodness I don’t have small children anymore. This law is ridiculous!!
Sitting in a rear facing car seat has been recommended for as long as possible for quite some time. The legislation is just catching up. We kept our son rear facing for at least three years, per the available information. One parent sits in the back with the child and can look directly at them; if nobody is sitting back there the child can look right out the back window.
I agree with the point that this article makes.
Additionally, how can we arbitrarily state an “age – 2” when children grow at such varied rates??? Many kids are MUCH larger than others at the same AGE. Legs that are against the back seat can easily be broken…hips moved, etc. sounds dangerous to me???
Like many LNP Editorials, one must consider the source…..none of these ‘Editors” are of an age to have young children any more. They merely recant words of others that support their viewpoints.
I would rather my child suffer a broken leg than from internal decapitation. Google it.
Seriously? If you question this at all visit YouTube and watch some Rear Facing crash videos.
And stimulus? You don’t just ignore your kid just because they’re looking out the rear window. Talk to them. And they can still see out the window.