Car seat laws in New York state that AAA New York State calls “outdated” are “putting young children at risk of injury,” according to a news release from the group.

From 2011-2015, a one-year-old child was injured in a traffic crash in New York once per day, on average – equivalent to 1,896 injuries over the five-year-period.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children ride in a rear-facing car seat until they are two years old. One-year-olds are five times more likely to be seriously injured in a crash if they ride in a forward-facing seat than if they ride in a rear-facing seat, according to the AAA NYS news release.

“Unfortunately, most one-year-olds are “prematurely graduated” to forward-facing seats, and New York law requires children to be in a car seat until they are four years old without distinguishing between rear-facing and forward-facing seats,” AAA officials said in the prepared statement.

Senator Joseph Robach and Assemblymember Sandy Galef have recently introduced legislation that would require rear-seat passengers under two years old to be restrained in a rear-facing car seat until they exceed the weight or height limit of the seat as set by the manufacturer.

“In a recent AAA survey, 63 percent of respondents supported a rear-facing car seat law, while only 13 percent opposed it,” the AAA release says.

Police officers will be able to enforce this law. In 2015, officers issued 8,695 tickets to drivers for violations of the car seat law – equivalent to one summons every hour, on average. Drivers who receive a ticket can have their fine waived if they purchase an appropriate car seat before their court date, according to AAA.

AAA New York State is a federation of four New York AAA clubs. Collectively, they have over 2.7 million AAA members residing in New York state. AAA clubs can be visited online at AAA.com.