A trip on July 1, 2002 to the lake on a small rural road for Jenny Harty and her family of four helped bring the issue of child passenger seat safety in Georgia to the forefront.
“[A] logging truck ran the stop sign, ignored the rumble strips and hit the tail end of [an oncoming] SUV. And the SUV lost control, hit us and literally shaved off the left side of our van,” the Johns Creek mother recalled.
Harty’s van landed in a deep ravine. While she, her husband, and six-year-old Abby escaped with only minor injuries, five-year-old Madison needed six surgeries to repair her arm. She sat in the hardest hit part of the van. First responders and doctors repeatedly told Harty that Madison’s booster seat absolutely saved both her’s and Abby’s lives.
“I thought that the children had to be riding in booster seats. But in the state of Georgia, in fact, the law only went up to age four, when some states had it to age eight, which was the best practice and what was recommended.”
Harty thought the old Georgia law was weak. “A seat belt is designed for an adult-sized body,” Harty said. “A young child…is not big enough to ride in just a seat belt only.”
A booster seat raises the child, so the seat belt fits them correctly. “Typically what we see happen [when kids are not in booster seats] is kids that are too small for the seat belt are torpedoed out underneath the seat belt.” Police have told Harty numerous times that kids in wrong-sized belts and seats get ejected in crashes. Children easily are the most vulnerable passengers.
So after Madison’s surgeries, Harty made child passenger advocacy her mission. She became a car seat technician, a process that requires classes and certification. She contacted a highway safety organization in D.C. to map out a plan for action. Then, in the fall of 2002, she met with her state representative, Mark Burkhalter, about changing the law.
“I realized that Madison was the living proof that legislators and parents needed - to show that booster seats save lives.” Harty did not want to wait for the next child to die to prove this.
Burkhalter, who now serves on the state transportation board, immediately elected to sponsor the bill, which initially raised Georgia’s booster seat age from four to eight. Current Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, then a Georgia state senator, carried Harty’s bill in the state Senate. After some haggling and compromise, the age decreased from eight, to six. The bill passed the state House in 2003, but didn’t get through the Senate until 2004. Madison’s booster seat law went effect July 1, 2004.
Opposition to Madison’s Law 14 years ago is not much different from the political climate now. “Representatives and senators were concerned about this being considered government intervention,” Harty said. “They thought that the law went too far in telling people how to parent.”
Harty retorted that one of the main tenets of the government is to protect.
The climate for child safety at the state capital has seemingly changed some. On the 9th anniversary of the Harty family crash, a tougher booster seat law went into effect, raising the age to eight, unless the kid’s height exceeds 57 inches. Every car or booster seat has specific recommendations and those driving children must follow those. Violators of the law get a $50 fine for the first offense, $100 for subsequent ones, and two points added to their license each time.
Harty now works doing driver safety advocacy with local law firm Montlick and Associates and is working with the House Study Committee to introduce tougher distracted driving legislation in Georgia in January. She attends safe driving seminars and press conferences, is a board member with AAA, and sometimes Madison joins her at events. Now 20, Madison is a junior in college and is studying education and mass communication. Abby, 21, is now a senior and because of booster seats, they both have full lives ahead of them.
The Harty family story is ripe with lessons. They were cautious before the law told them to be. They turned a near-tragedy into a law that is saving young lives. And they have spread their child passenger advocacy into other areas of safe driving. Child Passenger Safety Week just concluded and Harty has a message: “When it comes to car crashes, there are no mulligans. So please buckle up every ride!”
Hear Jenny Harty's full interview on the WSB Traffic Podcast: on-ajc.com/Turnbull. Click on the most recent episode.
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