Child Restraint Seats Selling Like
Hotcakes
The sale of "booster" and child car seats has heated as parents of
children are getting ready for the new regulations of the Ley de
Transito, which goes into effect possibly in September, that
obligates all children 12 years of age and under to be sitting in
the back seat and restrained.
The fear by many is that already lack of restraints in the
marketplace, as retailers are scrambling to get their hands on
merchandise.
The new traffic laws stipulate that all children between 4 and 12
years of age must be restrained in a "booster" seat and children
under the age of 4 in a traditional child car seat.
The fine for not having a child restraint is up to ˘350.000 colones
and 50 points - all the points on a drivers license.
Retailers like "Cemaco" and "Bebemundo" report sold out of child car
seats, selling out their January inventory like the proverbial
hotcakes.
The daily Al Dia reports that retailer "Universal" sold out its
stock of 100 child car seats the same day the stock arrived and the
same expected with this week's arrival.
Under the new lesgislation, the car seats should be placed in the
rear seat.
Car seats have been found to cause severe and fatal injuries to the
child when fitted in the front sear in vehicles with airbags.
In 2003, the American Academy of Pediatrics suggested that infants
“should spend minimal time in car seats (when not a passenger in a
vehicle) or other seating that maintains supine positioning” to
avoid developing positional plagiocephaly ("flat head syndrome") .
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