The state Senate voted Thursday to raise the age for when children can stop using car seats or boosters to 8. The current age limit is 6.
A companion bill to Senate Bill 88 passed the House, and the two chambers must work out any differences.
The passage by a 38-13 vote was good news for those in the child health industry, who supported it, though some senators were concerned about expanding government regulation.
"Where do we stop?" asked Sen. Jack Murphy, R-Cumming, noting that the General Assembly had passed the booster seat bill not too many years ago and capped the age at 6.
But Sen Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, the bill's primary sponsor, said the revised law would probably not cost Georgians money because parents subject to the requirement would already have booster seats. He argued that the bill would save children from being killed or injured in auto accidents.
That message was strongly echoed by Sen. Don Balfour, R-Snellville, whose wife works at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston hospital.
"We are talking about taking kids to the morgue," he said. "This is serious."
Besides the age limit, the bill also calls for exceptions to using the car seats and boosters for children 4 feet 9 and taller or weighing 40 or more pounds.
To become law, both chambers will have to agree on and pass a final version, which must then be signed by the governor.
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