Page 10 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, JULY 16, 2021 AG Healey joins coalition calling on federal regulators to act on child car seat safety A ttorney General Healey recently joined a coalition of 18 attorneys general calling on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to take stronger measures to protect children while traveling in car seats, including stricter testing standards and labeling measures. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children between one and 13 years of age. In a letter sent to NHTSA and the Department of Transportation, the coalition urged NHTSA to create and implement side-impact testing standards for child car seats as quickly as possible, after 20 years of delay that has endangered children’s safety. The coalition also ~ FLASHBACK ~ 50th in a series of called on NHTSA to require that all child car seat labels include clear, concise language conveying that every child should remain in their current seat until exceeding its height or weight maximum, a practice endorsed by experts. “Car crashes are the leading cause of death for young children and federal regulators should be doing everything they can to protect children from this risk,” Healey said. “We are calling on the NHTSA to prioritize implementing these critical requirements, so that we can ensure our children are safe while on the road.” Congress fi rst called on NHTSA to adopt side-impact standards for child car seats in 2000. More than two decades later, there are still no such standards from any federal government entity. Some manufacturers do conduct their own sideimpact testing, but without critical federal standards in place. Side-impact crashes cause almost as many child injuries and deaths as frontal-impact crashes and are more likely than any other types of crashes to cause serious or fatal injuries. The coalition also urged NHTSA to implement labeling standards that encourage parents to delay the transition to the next car seat for as long as possible depending upon the height and weight limits of the product. There are currently three major categories of car seats: rear-facing seats with a fi ve-point harness, forward-facing seats with a fi ve-point harness, and booster seats used in conjunction with a traditional lap and shoulder seat belt. Determining which seat is appropriate for a child also depends on the child’s development and maturity level. Experts universally agree that children should delay transition to the next seat in the progression for as long as possible, until they exceed their current seat’s height or weight limits. “Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for children aged one to 13. Almost 5,000 children under 15 have died in car crashes from 2015 to 2019, which equates to about 19 children each week over that time period,” the letter states. “Since their introduction in the 1970s, child car seats have significantly reduced the risk of injury to children, and numerous technological advances have made them safer over the years. NHTSA shares credit in this success, but as the data shows, there is still room for improvement. One such area in need of improvement is making sure that parents use the most appropriate car seat given their child’s weight, height and age.” AG Healey sues Google over illegal app store monopoly conduct A 2011’s Revere Little League banquet watched Coaches Scott Sullivan and Bill Day present the Minor League Championship Trophy to their team the Rangers. AUTOTECH 1989 SINCE Is your vehicle ready for the Summer Season?!! Recharge your vehicle's AC for the warm weather! Includes up to 1 LB. of Refrigerant* (*Most Vehicles/Some Restrictions May Apply) AC SPECIAL Only $69.95 DRIVE IT - PUSH IT - TOW IT! CASH FOR YOUR CAR, TRUCK OR SUV! 2012 HONDA PILOT EXL 2011 FORD FESTIVA Loaded, One Owner, Sunroof, Back-up Camera, Warranty, Only 101K Miles! TRADES WELCOME! $15,900 Financing Available! Only 105K Miles, Clean Title, Save Money on Gas! Great Commuter Car! TRADES WELCOME! $5,995 (781) 321-8841 • (617) 571-9869 Easy 1236 EasternAve • Malden EddiesAutotech.com Vehicle! We Pay Cash For Your ttorney General Maura Healey recently joined a bipartisan coalition of 37 attorneys general in fi ling a lawsuit against Google for using its market dominance to unfairly restrict competition within the Google Play Store for Android mobile devices, harming consumers by limiting choices and driving up app prices. The lawsuit, which was fi led in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California–San Francisco Division, alleges that the tech giant violated the federal Sherman Antitrust Act and various state antitrust and consumer protection laws with its exclusionary conduct, which substantially shut out competing app distribution channels. In addition, according to the complaint, Google requires that developers off ering apps through the Google Play Store use Google Billing, which forces them to pay Google’s exorbitant commission – up to 30 percent – on in-app purchases made by consumers. This commission is signifi cantly higher than commission fees charged by other competitive payment processors for digital and nondigital goods. “Smartphones are a source of information, entertainment, and commerce in our daily lives, but Google’s abuse of its Android market dominance has stifl ed competition and consumer options for app downloads,” Healey said. “We are fi ling this lawsuit today to end Google’s web of restrictive contracts that have unlawfully infl ated the cost of many digital goods, services, upgrades or other purchases made through apps downloaded from the Google Play Store. This lawsuit seeks to protect both consumers and innovative app developers from these unlawful practices.” According to the complaint, Google had previously promised app developers and device manufacturers that it would keep Android as an “open source” platform (allowing developers to create compatible apps and distribute them without unnecessary restrictions) but did not keep that promise – implementing contractual restraints that both disincentivized and restricted mobile device manufacturers and network operators that adopted the Android ecosystem from competing in the relevant market. The Google Play Store, which is Google’s app store, accounts for over 90 percent of all app downloads on Android smartphones. The attorneys general allege that Google engaged in the following conduct to enhance and protect its monopoly position over Android app distribution: • Imposed technical barriers that strongly discouraged or eff ectively prevented third-party app developers from distributing apps outside the Google Play Store • Prohibited Android from being “open source” for many years, effectively cutting off potential competition; Google forces mobile device manufacturers who wish to sell devices that run Android to enter into agreements that prohibit creating or implementing any variants of the Google-certifi ed version of Android; this includes prohibiting changes that could facilitate the distribution of apps outside the Google Play Store. • Foreclosed competition by forcing Google’s proprietary apps to be “pre-loaded” on essentially all devices designed to run on the Android OS and requiring that Google’s apps be given the most prominent placement on device home screens • Entered into arrangements with mobile device manufacturers and network operators that provided a share of Google’s monopoly profi ts in exchange for not competing with the Google Play Store • Forced app developers and app users alike to use Google’s payment processing service, Google Play Billing, to process payments for in-app purchases of content consumed within the app, unlawfully tying the use of Google’s payment processor, which is a separate service within a separate market for payment processing within apps, to distribution through the Google Play Store
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