New Jersey knows best?

From worst to first. That’s the story state officials are trying to tell about the new booster seat law that went into effect Saturday.

Well, if not first in increasing safety, our legislators have at least shown they are undisputed champions in telling those who elected them what to do.

The booster seat law, which was passed in September, requires all children under 8 years old or weighing less than 80 pounds to be strapped securely into a booster seat while riding in a motor vehicle—most motor vehicles, anyway.

Shortly before the law was created, Safe Kids, a national advocacy group, released a report saying New Jersey had just about the laxest child safety seat laws in the country.

Obviously, being outregulated does not sit well with the gang down in Trenton. After all, these are the folks who came up with a law about how long to cook an egg.

In very short order, New Jersey lawmakers made it clear that no matter how they try, other states’ legislators can’t hold a candle to the leaders of "The Regulated State" as our license plates should rightly proclaim.

In just a few short months, our laws telling parents how they should care for their kids in their cars became the most restrictive in the nation.

As amazing as this might sound, there are actually legislators who think the new law goes too far.

They don’t actually think that parents should be the ones responsible for taking care of their children, mind you, but that less stringent regulations might be OK right now.

An assemblyman made a proposal to lower the age and weight limits, but that proposal went nowhere. And a state senator has called for creating some exceptions for people like soccer coaches or Cub Scout leaders.

Of course, there is no room for exceptions in this matter. Acting Gov. Donald DiFrancesco said so when he signed the measure. He was quoted in The Star-Ledger as saying that this law is the toughest in the land, offering no exceptions when it comes to child safety.

That statement, somehow not surprisingly, turns out to be untrue. There is an exception, one big enough to drive a school bus through. In fact, it says it very plainly: the law doesn’t apply to school buses.

Which, of course, begs the question: Is this really about safety, or is it, perhaps, about helping some manufacturers sell car seats?