Panel advances bill requiring insurers to replace car seats involved in crashes; moves to Committee of the Whole

The Senate Business, Labor and Technology Committee voted to send House Bill 1179 to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation on Oct. 12; the recorded committee vote was 4–3.

The bill would require automobile insurance providers in Colorado to reimburse or directly pay for the replacement of child restraint systems (car seats and booster seats) that were in a vehicle at the time of a crash and to ask claimants whether such a restraint was present. The House amended the bill to cover any child restraint system that was in the vehicle at the time of the accident, rather than only those that sustained visible damage.

Sponsor remarks noted the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s guidance that child restraint systems should be replaced after crashes because structural integrity can be compromised. Senate testimony referenced Colorado Department of Transportation data that more than 1,000 children under 12 are involved in crashes annually in the state.

Britney Lombard, injury prevention manager at Children’s Hospital Colorado, testified in support and recounted a personal collision that left her family with multiple totaled car seats and delayed replacement. “Many caregivers don't know that child restraints, car seats and booster seats do need to be replaced after the event of a crash,” Lombard said, and she urged the committee to remove financial barriers to replacement.

Senators said the bill is meant to make replacement uniform across insurers and to reduce the likelihood that families continue to use compromised restraints because of cost. The measure now goes to the Committee of the Whole for further consideration.