Under a state law that takes effect Jan. 1, 2012, children under age 8 in California must be properly buckled into a car seat that’s placed in the vehicle’s back seat. Previously, state law required that kids use car seats until age 6 or until reaching a weight of 60 pounds.

Children under age 8 are exempt from the new law if they’re at least 4 feet, 9 inches tall.

For each child under 16 who isn’t properly secured in a car, either in a car seat or with a seat belt, the parents — if they’re in the car — or the driver can be fined more than $475 and receive one violation point on their California driving records. A ticket like that could bump up a motorist’s car insurance premium.

“This is an important new law that will impact more than 1.1 million children in California,” Christopher Murphy, director of the California Office of Traffic Safety, says in a news release. “Keeping them in booster seats increases their chance of surviving a crash by 45 percent.”

Car crashes are the leading cause of death in children between ages 4 and 8.

Until passage of the new law, California’s requirement of keeping children in car seats till age 6 was below the standards of 38 other states, the District of Columbia and the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.

Along with the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, the American Academy of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the National Transportation Safety Board and the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety recommend keeping kids in car seats until they reach age 8 or they grow to 4-foot-9.

State Sen. Noreen Evans, a Santa Rosa Democrat who sponsored the new law, says parents don’t have to buy new car seats to meet the new age requirement. They simply can use the car seats already being used by their kids.

Nearly half of American high school juniors and seniors believe New Year’s Eve is the most dangerous time of year to drive. And it’s no wonder. New Year’s Eve also is the occasion when they most frequently drive after drinking alcohol or taking drugs.

A survey by Liberty Mutual and SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) of nearly 2,300 students in 11th and 12th grade found that 10 percent had driven on New Year’s Eve after drinking alcohol or taking drugs. That compares with:

• 8 percent on Fourth of July.
• 6 percent each on prom night, at homecoming and around high school football games.
• 5 percent at school dances and other events.
• 4 percent around graduation.

The news is not all bad, though.

At least nine of every 10 teen drivers say they’d stop driving after drinking booze or smoking marijuana if a passenger asked them. Girls were more likely to make that request than boys.

“New Year’s Eve is a time to celebrate both the past year and the possibilities of the year to come, yet far too often poor decisions by teens result in tragic injuries and deaths,” Stephen Wallace, senior adviser at SADD, says in a news release. “To avoid a fatal start to the New Year, teen passengers need to use their voices if they have concerns about their friends’ behaviors. They will be heard.”

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the National Center for Statistics and Analysis, 31 percent of drivers age 15 to 20 who were killed in car crashes in 2008 had been drinking alcohol.

It’s estimated that in the five years after a drunken driving conviction, an offender’s car insurance bill can jump by $5,000 to $10,000. With teens already coughing up more money for car insurance that older drivers are because of their inexperience behind the wheel, the price is even steeper when you add a DWI to the mix.

Take care when driving to Grandma’s house this holiday season. A fender-bender could occur when you’re going over the river or through the woods.

The nonprofit Consumer Federation of America estimates that more than 325,000 car crashes will happen from Dec. 23, 2011, to Jan. 2, 2012. AAA estimates 27 percent of Americans will travel by car at least 50 miles during that period.

The consumer group predicts those holiday crashes will trigger 200,000 to 225,000 car insurance claims.

Mark Romano, the federation’s director of insurance claims projects, has written a guide called “Navigating the Auto Claims Maze: Getting the Settlement You Deserve” to help motorists file successful car insurance claims and collect fair settlements.

“It is our hope that this report will make the auto claims process a lot less intimidating and confusing for drivers who are unfortunate enough to be in an accident during the holiday season,” Romano says.

The guide can be downloaded at www.consumerfed.org/pdfs/Auto-Insurance-Navigating-Auto-Claims-Guide-12-14-11.pdf.

You’ve heard how much of a danger texting and talking while driving is. Now, there’s a growing threat on the road: Facebooking while driving. It’s especially prevalent among drivers 18 to 29 years old.

A survey by State Farm shows the number of 18- to 29-year-old drivers who are reading posts on social networking sites jumped from 21 percent in 2009 to 37 percent in 2011. Updating of social networks while driving rose from 20 percent in 2009 to 33 percent in 2011.

Among all drivers surveyed, reading posts on social networks while driving increased from 9 percent in 2009 to 14 percent in 2011. Updating social networks while driving climbed from 9 percent in 2009 to 13 percent in 2011.

“The mobile web is a growing issue for safety advocates concerned about distractions while driving,” David Beigie, State Farm’s vice president of public affairs, says in a news release.

In 2010, about 3,000 people died in distraction-related car crashes in the United States, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

According to the State Farm survey, accessing the Internet on a cellphone while driving rose from 29 percent in 2009 to 43 percent in 2011 among 18- to 29-year-olds. For all drivers, the number went from 13 percent in 2009 to 18 percent in 2011.

The survey showed that texting while driving was flat or actually was decreasing in some instances.

For drivers 18 to 29, 71 percent said they engaged in texting while driving in 2009. That number dropped to 64 percent in 2011. For all drivers, this number stayed relatively flat: 31 percent in 2009 compared with 32 percent in 2011.

State Farm, the country’s biggest car insurance company, questioned nearly 900 motorists for the survey.

Ever heard of anyone being charged with DWI in federal court? Neither had I, until I learned about a police detective in El Paso, Texas, who’s accused of driving drunk at Fort Bliss, a sprawling Army post.

It turns out that federal DWI charges are somewhat unusual but not unheard of. Most DWI cases are filed in state courts, not federal courts.

An El Paso, Texas, police detective faces a federal DWI charge after allegedly driving drunk at Fort Bliss, an Army post.

“The defense of a DWI in federal court is really no different than it would be in state court. The evidence is the same, the standards for proving intoxication are the same and your questions on cross-examination will be virtually the same,” Houston criminal defense attorney Jimmy Ardoin says. “The only thing that is different is that as a lawyer in federal court, you are not always entitled to ask questions in jury selection, which can make it a little tougher to weed out those who are really unfavorable toward your client.”

Ardoin explains that a motorist can be charged with DWI in federal court if he’s caught driving drunk on federal property, like a military base or national park, or someplace that’s under federal jurisdiction, such as the District of Columbia.

If you’re busted for DWI in a national park, according to Ardoin, you can be hit with a Class B misdemeanor. Maximum punishment: six months in federal prison, a $5,000 fine and five years of probation.

If you’re nabbed for DWI on any other federal property, you’re subject to the drunken driving laws of the place where the crime allegedly occurred, Ardoin says. In the Fort Bliss case, that’s Texas.

Edric Ray Flores, 34, a detective with the El Paso Police Department, faces six months in federal prison and a fine of $2,000 if he’s convicted of a federal DWI charge that was filed Nov. 18, 2011. Ardoin says Flores also could have his Texas driver’s license suspended. Army cops arrested Flores on Oct. 24, 2011, at Fort Bliss after spotting him driving in an “erratic manner,” according to federal court documents.

Among other things, the arresting cops said Flores was “jittery,” his speech was slurred and his eyes were glossy and bloodshot. While protesting that he wasn’t “that drunk,” Flores did admit he’d been drinking alcohol, according to court records.

When Flores was pulled over, the detective claimed he was working undercover at Fort Bliss, which encompasses more than 1 million acres in Texas and New Mexico. However, cops determined Flores was lying about the undercover gig, court records show. Flores refused to take a field sobriety test or a breathalyzer test.

As of Nov. 29, Flores was on paid administrative leave but remained an employee of the city, according to the El Paso Police Department.

More than three-fourths of U.S. drivers acknowledge they’ve driven with a child who was wearing a poorly fitting seat belt, according to a University of Michigan study.

The study, which surveyed 891 drivers, found that many people rely solely on seat belts to protect 4- to 9-year-old passengers, despite the fact that most children in this age range are too short to fit in vehicle seat belts that are designed for adults.

“It’s alarming that over 70 percent of drivers admitted that their child’s belt did not meet these standards,” Dr. Michelle Macy, a clinical lecturer of emergency medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School and a pediatrician at the university’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, says in a news release. “Many parents may not even be aware of proper seat belt positioning and may not understand the serious and potentially permanent injuries that can result from improper belt fit.”

A child should be at least 57 inches tall (4.75 feet) before he or she stops using a booster seat, experts say. Fifty-seven inches is the average height of an 11-year-old, says Macy, lead author of the study.

No state laws require a child passenger older than age 8 to sit in a booster seat.

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, shoulder belts should fit across the middle of a child’s shoulder and not touch his or her neck. Lap belts should lie flat on top of the thighs, not higher up on the abdomen.

Results of the study appear in the journal Academic Pediatrics.

Pennsylvania has become the 35th state to ban texting while driving.

On Nov. 9, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett signed into law a bill that prohibits motorists from sending or receiving text messages while driving. The ban takes effect in 120 days. A driver who violates the law can be fined $50.

Pennsylvania still allows talking on a cellphone while driving.

The new law makes texting behind the wheel a primary offense, meaning that police officers can pull over motorists for that violation alone.

“No text message is worth a human life. The message of this legislation is drive now and text later,” Corbett says.

In 2010, distracted driving played a part in nearly 14,000 crashes in Pennsylvania, with nearly 1,100 of those crashes involving a handheld cellphone.

One of the sponsors of the legislation, state Sen. Tommy Tomlinson, says the ban on texting is “one of the most important things we can do to prevent needless tragedies. Texting is one of the most dangerous distracted driving activities that motorists engage in. When you text, you have to take your eyes off the road, you aren’t paying attention, and the consequences can be deadly.”

To find out whether your state bans texting while driving, visit the website of the Governors Highway Safety Association.

Here’s some new information that’s bound to spark discussion at home, at work or in your car: Women believe they’re safer drivers, and most men don’t necessarily disagree.

According to results of a MetLife Auto & Home American Safety Pulse Poll released Sept. 30, only 39 percent of men think they’re safer drivers than women, but 35 percent of men are unsure which gender is safer behind the wheel. Women, on the other hand, take a much more definitive stance – 51 percent think they’re safer drivers than men and 24 percent are undecided.

“Despite the long-standing, good-natured debate between men and women about who is the better driver, one thing that’s not debatable is the responsibility drivers have when operating their vehicles,” Bill Moore, president of MetLife Auto & Home, says in a news release. “Safety knows no gender — whether a man or a woman is behind the wheel, an attentive driver remains the most effective deterrent to auto accidents.”

On this subject, women do have some evidence in their corner.

For instance, a 2008 study by a company called Quality Planning found men are cited for reckless driving 3.41 times more often than women. And a study issued in 2010 by the New York City Department of Transportation found that 80 percent of Big Apple crashes that kill or seriously injure pedestrians involve male drivers.

Worth noting is that men rack up about 60 percent of the miles driven each year in the United States, and women account for the remainder.

AT&T is trying to fight texting while driving with … texting.

The telecom company’s new DriveMode app for BlackBerry devices will automatically send a customizable reply to incoming texts, notifying the sender that the driver is behind the wheel and unable to respond. The automatic message is similar to an “out of office” email.

The app can be downloaded for free from the AT&T AppCenter and BlackBerry App World stores. AT&T plans to make the app available on other mobile platforms.

AT&T’s DriveMode app is available to users of BlackBerry devices.

Once they’ve downloaded the app, AT&T customers can activate the text auto-reply feature before driving. The app also allows disabling of emails, incoming calls, outgoing calls and web browsing. When the app is turned off, a user can handle calls, messages and emails as they normally would.

Charlene Lake, chief sustainability officer and senior vice president public affairs at AT&T, says in a news release: “We’re hoping to reach new and experienced drivers alike to generate a change in behavior and underscore our message that when it comes to texting and driving, it can – and should – wait.”

The app lets users choose up to five contact phone numbers – such as those for roadside assistance and family members – for sending and receiving calls while the app is running. 911 is automatically included.

In 2009, one-fifth of injury crashes in the United States involved distracted driving, such as texting while driving, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. A 2009 survey by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety found that more than one in every five drivers acknowledged reading or sending text messages or emails while driving; among 16- to 19-year-olds, it was one of every two drivers.

Livonia, Mich., a Detroit suburb, is the speed trap capital of the United States and Canada, according to a new list from the National Motorists Association.

The association, which promotes motorists’ rights, says Livonia had 27.9 speed traps per 100,000 residents from September 2009 through August 2011. It was followed by Windsor, Ontario, with 17.6 speed traps per 100,000 residents, and Orlando, Fla. (17.2). Other U.S. and Canadian cities on the list are, in descending order:

• Las Vegas — 11.1 speed traps per 100,000 residents.
• Denver — 10.9.
• Reno, Nev. — 10.4.
• Tampa, Fla. — 8.9.
• Colorado Springs, Colo. — 7.2.
• Austin, Texas — 6.1.
• Sarasota, Fla. — 6.1.
• Portland, Ore. — 5.8.
• Jacksonville, Fla. — 5.4.
• San Antonio — 5.3.
• Fresno, Calif. — 5.0.
• Hamilton, Ontario — 5.0.
• New Orleans — 4.7.
• Toronto — 4.7.
• Houston — 4.0.
• Edmonton, Alberta — 3.3.
• San Diego — 3.2.
• Indianapolis — 3.2.
• San Jose, Calif. — 3.1.
• Chicago — 1.9.
• Los Angeles — 1.6.
• New York City — 0.9.

California and Florida had the most cities on the top 25 list, with four each.

Among U.S. states, Vermont had the most speed traps per 100,000 residents (11.4), followed by New Hampshire (11.3), Michigan (9.4), Wyoming (9.2) and Colorado (9.1).

The National Motorists Association’s listing is unscientific. It’s based on motorists reporting speed traps in cities with at least 100,000 residents.

“Speed traps are characterized by arbitrarily low speed limits and heavy traffic enforcement. Motorists should be alert in those areas to avoid receiving citations,” the National Motorists Association says.

The National Motorists Association’s National Speed Trap Exchange lists speed traps in the United States and Canada at www.speedtrap.org. The nonprofit group complains that speed traps are designed to generate money for local governments.

In Michigan, Livonia Police Chief Robert Stevenson told The New York Times that that’s not the case.

“We don’t write tickets for money,” Stevenson says. “Besides, money goes into the city’s general fund, so whether I write ten or a hundred tickets, it never makes a difference to our budget.”

Stevenson tells The Detroit News: “We do traffic enforcement, and that doesn’t qualify as a speed trap.”