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Statement of Autumn Alexander Skeen

April 23, 2002

From the terrible moment we first became aware that Anton was dead and gone to us forever, my family and I have felt that if a seatbelt is delivered in a vehicle, it implies a contract -- that it will do whatever it's supposed to do for whomever its occupant may be. If the product, in this case the seatbelt, will NOT deliver on that contract, the manufacturer must warn the consumer and make good faith efforts to mitigate the defects in its safety equipment. Instead, we see all this burden left on a trusting public and families who will discover too late that they've become accomplices in negligence. This pattern has gone on shamefully long with an immeasurable price.

The temporary, transitional nature of childhood has contributed mightily to the witting and unwitting negligence of all parties responsible for equal safety protections for children. Along with their children, the topic is soon outgrown by parents, and few -- if any -- legislators or automakers have nurtured the issue of equal protection for kids under the safety belt. After all, children' welfare is not where the headlines are. Parents such as I who have paid the ultimate price for society's ho-hum attitudes tire of the double burdens of grief and institutional resistance.

We parents, legislators and automakers are guilty of discrimination when it comes to making the substantive changes necessary to save children from fates such as those that Anton and Jamaal have suffered. In a country where convenience is king, it should come as no surprise that parents, lawmakers and engineers have dragged their feet on providing equal protections for children. But if we've learned anything from the catastrophes our country's endured this past year, it should be that the company of those we love needs to take precedence over the expedient quick and dirty answer.

Like the proverbial boy with his finger in the dam, my attempts to secure legislation and add-on booster seats for youngsters are emergency measures, an attempt to slow the tsunami of preventable deaths for the forgotten child. But it's critical we look past these stopgap, educated guesses to solve the underlying structural problems. The answer lies with science and engineering, backed up by education for parents and enforcement by law. Only then will we deliver the promise we imply to our young -- that we will truly do our best to bring you of age.

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Autumn Alexander Skeen’s 4-year-old son Anton was killed in a 1996 crash that occurred when his mother lost control of their 1988 Dodge Raider and the vehicle rolled over. Anton, who was sitting in the right front seat and was wearing a lap/shoulder belt, was ejected from the vehicle. The belt remained buckled even after Anton was thrown out of it. After losing her son, Ms. Skeen did extensive research on booster seats and prompted the Washington state legislature to pass the country’s first booster seat law, dubbed Anton’s law. Autumn has since worked as a safety representative for Ford’s Boost America Campaign and has testified before Congress in an effort to pass federal booster seat legislation. Recently, the Senate passed a bill to require the application of federal safety standards and testing of booster seats for children over 50 pounds. The bill, S. 980, is also named for Anton.

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