An educational campaign is being launched today encouraging parents to buy car booster seats for their kids between four and eight years old. Officials say more than 500 children in that age group are killed every year because they’re either not belted in or are improperly restrained. As for Iowa,Cathy Hickey, a safety spokeswoman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, says 5 Iowa children between ages four and eight died in car crashes in 1998, four of whom weren’t at all restrained. Hickey says booster seats can help safety belts fit children in that age range better and may save their lives.Hickey says rear-facing safety seats are for infants up to one year and up to 20 pounds. The next stage is a forward-facing seat for kids 20 to 40 pounds.She says many people miss that third step of using a booster seat for kids from 40 to 80 pounds, generally four to eight years old. Hickey says the booster seats range from under 50 dollars to well over 100 dollars.
