By Elizabeth Allen

Below is a quick checklist of some do’s and don’ts of child restraint and safety seat installation.

Do’s for Baby

Do read and follow the instructions that come with your child safety seat. Also carefully review the vehicle owners manual. It will contain important information regarding the installation of child safety restraints in your make and model vehicle.

Do dress the baby in pants or loose clothing so that his or her legs are free. Otherwise, it will be difficult to secure the crotch harness strap. Place blankets and other coverings over the baby only after you have fastened all baby seat buckles and have tightened all harness straps.

Do ensure the baby sits in a semi-reclined position in the safety seat. This helps babys breathing. Ordinarily, you can adjust the base of the seat for this purpose. If you cant adjust your babys safety seat, try putting a rolled towel under the front end of the babys seat where the motor vehicles seat and seat back join. Be warned. This is a delicate adjustment. Your baby could be ejected from the seat in the event of an accident or sudden stop if you tip the seat too far backwards.

Do take time to ensure the harness straps fit snugly and lie flat on the babys shoulders, not on his arms. In an accident or near accident, a baby can be thrown out of his seat if the harness is loose.

Do use the lowest harness slot for a newborn and make sure the straps in the slots rest at or below the babys shoulders.

Do check the location of the plastic harness retainer clip. Position it at the level of the babys armpits so the harness straps will fall properly across the shoulders.

Do make sure the vehicle’s seat belt is properly attached to the child safety seat and holds it securely and snugly in place inside your vehicle, if your vehicle does not have a LATCH child safety seat installation system. Under these circumstances, you should thread the vehicles seat belt through a convertible child seats seat belt path or slots designed to hold the belt. These slots are usually located in a lower position than the slots used to secure older toddlers.

Don’ts for Baby

Dont place thick padding under or behind a baby. He wont be as tightly restrained as he should be to travel safely. If you need to support a baby, fill any empty spaces around his head and shoulders with rolled baby blankets. Rolled cloth diapers or small blankets can be placed between the babys legs and behind the crotch strap.

Dont use a seat with a padded overhead shield/bar that drops down in front of baby. You may think the shield/bar is an extra safety feature. In actuality, it can injure your child if your babys head or body strikes the shield/bar during a crash or sudden stop.

Dos for Toddlers and Pre-schoolers 1 to 4 years old:

Do read and follow the instructions enclosed with your child safety seat. In addition, read your vehicle owners manual. It should contain important information regarding the installation of child safety restraints in your make and model vehicle.

Do keep your child in a full harness as long as you can beyond age 4. The harness protects his upper body and keeps him secure in his seat.

Do use the appropriate (usually the top-most) slots for the harness straps when your child is at least one year old, weighs over 20 pounds, and starts riding in the forward facing position in a convertible seat. Comply with the manufacturers instructions about placement of the harness straps.

Do check the placement of the harness retainer clips. They should be at armpit level.

Do make sure the vehicle’s seat belt is properly attached to the child safety seat, if the vehicle does not have a LATCH child safety seat installation system. When using a seat belt, you must thread the vehicles seat belt through a convertible child seat’s correct seat belt path or slot. This may be a different slot from the one you used when your child was a baby and his convertible seat faced backwards.

About the Author: Allen and Allen are experienced Virginia

personal injury lawyers

and

car accident attorneys

. They can be found online at: allenandallen.com.

Source:

isnare.com

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By Dimitris Stacosta

File-sharing programs are probably the most controversial way to download and burn free music on the Internet, but file sharing has never been more popular. Programs like KaZaA, Limewire, Ares, Shareaza, WinMX and iMesh seem to be the most popular for gathering totally free music to download. Lawsuits by the music business have slowed some of the illegal sharing of pirated music, but there are new file-sharing programs that use methods to allow users to be anonymous.

Such file-sharing programs are also called P2P, or peer-to-peer programs. Unlike the old Napster network that ran all exchanges through a central server, this entirely free music download software, using P2P networks connects users directly to each other allowing them to download and burn free music.

It should be mentioned that file-sharing programs are not illegal in themselves, and their creators like to emphasize their many legitimate uses. Some unsigned bands use the file-sharing networks to distribute their music through free music downloads and several organizations use them to exchange documents.

Lots of people are confused about what is legal.

* Are there actually places to download and burn free music on the internet?

* Can downloading music put you at risk for legal action?

* Is file-sharing legal?

It’s no wonder people are confused when we all know that the Net is full of legal music download sites advertised as “napster replacements” which are 100% legal. Sites like Mp3 Advance, DownloadShield and MP3 Music Subscription are just a few that offer a lot more than just music downloads. The vast majority of totally free music download programs shared on P2P (peer-to-peer) networks like KaZaA, Limewire, Ares, Shareaza, WinMX and iMesh seem to violate copyright laws because the music was posted without permission of the artist or label.

Since it’s almost impossible to determine which free music downloads may be legitimate, the only certain way to stay legal is to avoid these type file-sharing programs altogether.

Unauthorized copying of commercial music is clearly illegal These totally free music downloads usually means songs that are made from CD’s and then placed on the internet by individuals who haven’t sought permission from the artist or music company.

What do copyright laws allow, actually? To put it simply but clear, you may make a copy of your own CD for your personal use. That means you may record it to a cassette tape or transfer it to MP3 files. You may not, however, give the copy you made to another person. Many people think that if no money is involved, then no law has been broken. This is not right. It doesn’t matter whether you give the copy away or sell it, this is still a violation of copyright law.

About the Author: Dimitris Stacosta is a writer and internet publisher who likes to publish reviews of free music download reviews and related issues. Read more at the website 1000-free-music-downloads.com

Source: isnare.com

Permanent Link: isnare.com/?aid=120004&ca=Legal

Massachusetts Driving Influence Breathalyzer Mandatory Calibration Lawyers Attorneys

by

Atchuthan Sriskandarajah

KEVIN A. MORRIS v. COMMONWEALTH

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Suffolk

FACTS:

Defendant appealed an order of a Suffolk District Court (Massachusetts), which, under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 90, 24N (1990), upon the basis of a breathalyzer test, suspended his driver’s license for 90 days for driving while under the influence of

alcohol and speeding

. Defendant alleged that the Commonwealth had not complied with the requirements of the periodic testing program for breathalyzer machines under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 90, 24K (1990).

ISSUES:

The issue here is whether delegation of authority to do the testing to the police by the by secretary is proper.

DISCUSSION:

Prior to the admission of a breathalyzer result, the

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

must prove the existence of, and compliance with, the requirements of a periodic testing program, in accordance with Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 90, 24K, and regulations promulgated thereunder. The guidelines for the periodic testing program provide, among other things, that the police shall be responsible for testing breathalyzers, and that each mandatory calibration of a breathalyzer prior to its use shall be deemed to be a test of such device. Mass. Regs. Code tit. 501, 2.41 (amended February 13, 1992). Mass. Regs. Code tit. 501, 2.41 (amended February 13, 1992) provides, in part, that: Every calibration standard analysis of a breath testing device, as conducted under 2.56, shall be deemed to be a test of such device. The officer in charge, as defined in 2.54, will change the simulator solution in accordance. The defendant argues that the Secretary has no authority to delegate responsibility for the periodic testing of breathalyzers to the police. A regulation is invalid if it conflicts with the authorizing statute. In this case, however, 2.41 is not in conflict with, but consistent with the enabling statute and the other applicable regulation. In requiring the police to conduct the periodic testing, the amended 501 Code Mass. Regs. 2.41 reasonably satisfies the legislative goal of ensuring the accuracy of the tests. The regulation recognizes that it is simply not possible for OAT representatives personally to conduct the mandated calibration standard analysis on each occasion on which a breathalyzer reading is taken in Massachusetts.

JUDGMENT:

The court affirmed the trial court’s suspension of the driver’s license.

Disclaimer:

These summaries are provided by the SRIS Law Group. They represent the firm s unofficial views of the Justices opinions. The original opinions should be consulted for their authoritative content

Atchuthan Sriskandarajah is a Virginia lawyer and owner of the SRIS Law Group. The SRIS Law Group has offices in Virginia, Maryland,

Massachusetts

, New York, North Carolina & California. The firm handles criminal/traffic defense, family law, immigration & bankruptcy cases.

Article Source:

ArticleRich.com