Vote yes for booster seats

I read Representative Montell's legislative report in the Sentinel News. I noticed that Representative Montell left out his voting record on HB 55: booster seat legislation.

I have voted as a Republican for nearly 20 years and I have believed that Republicans have always stood for family values. Booster seat legislation is the ultimate in protecting family values.

Representative Montell has been quoted as saying, "There are safety issues that should be addressed ... But at the end of the day, some things are just better left to the people." The problem is when I go to pick up my children at their elementary school there are parents who put their children in danger by not placing them in booster seats.

I just recently took care of a young four-year-old who nearly died after his family was in a car accident. Every adult walked away from the accident. The young boy suffered serious intestinal injuries because he was not in a booster seat. If he had been in a booster seat he may have walked away without a scratch. Now this child has an indelible scar from this preventable injury, his family wept when I told them of their child's injuries, and now this family faces huge medical bills.

Some people have told me that booster seats are inconvenient. Well, planning for a child's funeral or having to stay weeks in an intensive care unit is much more inconvenient.

Representative Montell, yesterday the Senate judiciary committee passed a watered down version of the house bill concerning booster seat legislation. If the Senate bill makes it to the House floor, please change your mind and vote "yes."

The children of Kentucky deserve booster seat legislation, the parents in Kentucky deserve a reminder to buckle their children up, the tax payers of Kentucky deserve a law that may prevent injury to young children and thus prevent the financial burden these injuries may have upon the state.

Fred Warkentine,

Pediatric emergency medicine physician,

Louisville