Britney Spears Sparks New Legislation  5/19/06

Pop star Britney Spears has prompted California lawmakers to introduce a bill requiring parents to face their infants' car seats towards the back of the vehicle if they are under one year old.

Spears started another car seat controversy earlier this week (15MAY06), when she was photographed with her eight-month-old son, Sean Preston, slumped over in a forward-facing car seat.

According to California motor-vehicle code, babies who weigh 20 pounds (9 kilograms) or who are less than one year old should have their car seats facing backward.

Spears' representatives insist that she did nothing wrong, since her son weighs over 20 pounds.

Lawmakers hope the new legislation will clear up any confusion over the code by having any child under one year old facing backwards, regardless of weight.

If passed, the new legislation would be called Britney's Law, in honor of the pop star.

Tom Cruise also inspired California lawmakers earlier this month (MAY06), when legislation was introduced to ban the sale of ultrasound machines to anyone but licensed medical professionals.

The Mission Impossible III star announced last year (05) that he purchased an ultrasound machine to perform sonograms on his then pregnant fiancée Katie Holmes.