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Rear-facing Car Seat Legislation Headed to Governor

Parents are about to be forced to strap their children into rear-facing child seats.

Is your infant in a rear-facing car-seat? If not, you will soon be breaking the law. Delegate Eileen Filler-Corn, a Democrat from Fairfax County, introduced a bill that creates a $50 penalty for any driver who has a child under the age of two who is not in a rear-facing car-seat.

“If we actually have proven data and statistics showing that this will save lives and prevent injury, then as a member of the House of Delegates I see it as our duty to pass legislation that will help ensure the safety of all our our constituents, in this case the most vulnerable.”

The bill did not speed through the General Assembly without opposition. Republican Senator Ben Chafin of Russell County says he doesn’t want the nanny state to tell parents how to raise their children.

“When I was a child, a rear-facing child seat was a bale of hay in the back of a pickup truck, OK? And I can tell you we all got along just fine riding on those bales of hay.”

The bill has passed the House and Senate, which means it’s on its way to the governor’s desk.

This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.

Michael Pope is an author and journalist who lives in Old Town Alexandria.