Nedra
Car-Seat.org Ambassador
My MIL always insists on taking one car if we have 5 people. Well, that works in her mind because she is TINY. For me and my husband, we end up feeling completely squashed. I usually have a hip up on the door and there's no way to have all three torsos across so usually one person's shoulder is behind or in front of the next person. I now understand the meaning of the whole "squeezed in like sardines" thing. I definitely feel like we are "layered" together.
Now that we have a baby, she is starting to insist that 4 adults can still ride in the car - never mind that now instead of being squished against soft people, we're squished against plastic and steel.
So before I knew about belt fit and whatnot, this felt unsafe to me. Now that I know the importance of sitting correctly in the car, it seems even more unsafe. Is it? Are 3 people only supposed to squish into the back seat of a car if they can get correct belt fit when doing so? Or would the fact that they're squished against each other prevent them from moving much anyway? Is the fact that there are 3 lap/shoulder belts sufficient enough to say that three adults (or one child seat and two adults) is safe?
Now that we have a baby, she is starting to insist that 4 adults can still ride in the car - never mind that now instead of being squished against soft people, we're squished against plastic and steel.
So before I knew about belt fit and whatnot, this felt unsafe to me. Now that I know the importance of sitting correctly in the car, it seems even more unsafe. Is it? Are 3 people only supposed to squish into the back seat of a car if they can get correct belt fit when doing so? Or would the fact that they're squished against each other prevent them from moving much anyway? Is the fact that there are 3 lap/shoulder belts sufficient enough to say that three adults (or one child seat and two adults) is safe?