North Carolina Beefs up Child Restraint Laworth Carolina is toughening its stance on driver's who fail to secure their children in proper child safety seats. Beginning last week, any driver who fails to restrain their children in accordance with the state's child passenger safety law will be penalized in the form of two drivers license points if they are stopped and cited by a law enforcement officer.

The law states that all children up to age 16 must be restrained regardless of their seating position. In addition, all children up to age five and up to 40 pounds must be properly restrained in a child safety seat - in the vehicle's back seat-if that vehicle has an active front passenger-side airbag.

Last year in North Carolina, more than 2,200 children under age of 16 were either killed or seriously injured because they were riding unrestrained at the time of a crash. Statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reveal that child safety seats, when properly installed and used, reduce the risk of death by 71 percent for infants and 54 percent for toddlers. Seat belts, when worn correctly, increase the chance of surviving a crash by 45-60 percent.

"North Carolina now has another tool to get motorists to realize how very crucial it is to get their children buckled up each and every time they are on the road," said Joe Parker, director of the Governor's Highway Safety Program (GHSP). "We have every hope that the two points penalty will serve its intended purpose and change the behavior of those who are not in the habit of restraining their children."

In another attempt to reach people with the message to buckle up children, the GHSP has printed brochures detailing the "two points" law in both English and Spanish. It is expected that this hard-line stance on children restraint will spread to other states.