A bill aimed at closing a loophole in state law that allows kids aged 8 to 17 to ride in the backseat of a car without a seatbelt may have stalled.
Lawmakers inadvertently struck a section of law applying to 8- to 17-year-olds when they updated infant and booster seat regulations in 2015, making Oklahoma the only state in the U.S. where kids over 8 years old can legally be unbuckled in the backseat.
Broken Arrow Republican Rep. Ross Ford agreed to carry House Bill 2791 to close that loophole. The bill came up Thursday for a floor vote, and Ford's fellow Republicans pushed back hard.
Rep. Tommy Hardin argued with Ford about an additional requirement in HB2791 for 8- to 12-year-olds to sit in the backseat, regardless of height or weight.
"I mean, I have a nephew that’s 8 years old who is a lot taller than some adults nowadays. … Why are we making him have to sit in the backseat?" Hardin said.
"An 8-year-old can be, you know, 6 foot tall, but the safest place for that growing child is in the backseat," Ford said.
Other Republican lawmakers challenged HB2791's lack of height and weight rules for when kids must be moved to a different type of child restraint. Another read the bill to mean his 12-year-old daughter who had outgrown booster seats would be legally required to use one still.
Others said their constituents weren't worried about closing the loophole.
Ford said Republicans often say in debate on bills that government’s job is to protect innocent lives.
"If we can’t protect these children while they’re bucked up in the car, according to that statement, we’re failing the children of the state of Oklahoma," Ford said.
House Minority Leader Emily Virgin said that needs to be addressed.
"The Child Death Review Board, a state-commissioned board that reviews all the child deaths in Oklahoma, they have a few recommendations on what we could do to save the lives of more kids, and this was one of their main recommendations, was to close this loophole," Virgin said.
According to AAA, car crashes are the No. 1 cause of death for kids 8 years old and older in Oklahoma.
