SALEM (AP) - Safety advocates flooded House Judiciary Committee members with images of children's bruised torsos, broken necks and death as they promoted a bill to tighten rules on where and how children can ride in cars.

Among other things, the bill would require children under 13 to sit in back seats of cars.

Infants in their first 12 months and any child weighing less than 20 pounds would require a rear-facing car seat. Anyone weighing less than 40 pounds and standing under 4-foot-9 would have to use a booster seat or other child safety system.

Advocates at the hearing included a doctor, a trauma nurse coordinator, a traffic officer and a lawyer who has represented families with children hurt in crashes.

Oregon's current law requires children to sit in a booster seat until they are age 6 or weigh 60 pounds. But advocates for stricter standards said research shows that leaves too many children vulnerable.

No committee member voiced opposition to the bill.

But some, such as Rep. Jeff Barker, D-Aloha, said they'd like to see it reworked.

He said his 89-year-old mother often rode in the back because she was smaller and more fragile than many 12-year-old children.

He questioned whether he would have to put someone like that in the front so more physically fit youngsters could sit in the back.

Rep. Wayne Krieger, R-Gold Beach, recalled that when his son was 12, he stood 5-foot-9 and weighed more than 200 pounds, making him a better candidate for the front seat than his sister was when she was 14 and weighed scarcely 100 pounds.

“I think the bill has a lot of merit, but we might have to have some conversations about how we could modify this in some way,” Krieger said.