I don't know why I'm surprised at this type of thing anymore, but I had to share my experience with my 1st grade daughter's class field trip today. The one today was a doozy. I wasn't there when they left school, but apparently they were short one driver so one child (the 7 year old daughter of one driver) ended up riding in the front seat. The teacher assures me they only ever resort to this in exceptional situations, and they would never do it without parental consent, yadda, yadda. Was the airbag even disabled? Who knows. Stupid, unsafe, but not illegal in MI. One of the reasons I will always drive on field trips, or make my daughter miss them.
What I also noticed, however, as they returned to school, was that the one of the kids in the rear middle seat of the same car wasn't even boostered. It was a small sedan, so I always do a double-take when I see 3 K/First graders sitting in back of those. The kids all had boosters originally, but I am wondering if the parent must have given up fitting them all in, and stuck one in the trunk. Two of the boosters looked like huge plastic Evenflo or Cosco harness/booster combo seats. I'm not good at id-ing those, but they looked bulky. The third kid was carrying a LBB.
So my question is: There's no way, right, that one could fit a LBB between those 2 types of HBB in a small sedan? I would like to believe I just didn't see the LBB the middle kid was sitting on, since I was distracted with my toddler at the time. But I also want the school to do something about this kind of bad judgment (breaking MI's booster laws never mind putting 5-7 year olds in front seats!), and it's hard for me to do so without feeling more sure of what I saw. I don't know the make/model of the car, but it was not as large as Taurus or Impala. I would be LIVID though if that were my child, and I sent him with a booster, and it wasn't used because the school didn't have enough space/drivers.
Thoughts or advice?
What I also noticed, however, as they returned to school, was that the one of the kids in the rear middle seat of the same car wasn't even boostered. It was a small sedan, so I always do a double-take when I see 3 K/First graders sitting in back of those. The kids all had boosters originally, but I am wondering if the parent must have given up fitting them all in, and stuck one in the trunk. Two of the boosters looked like huge plastic Evenflo or Cosco harness/booster combo seats. I'm not good at id-ing those, but they looked bulky. The third kid was carrying a LBB.
So my question is: There's no way, right, that one could fit a LBB between those 2 types of HBB in a small sedan? I would like to believe I just didn't see the LBB the middle kid was sitting on, since I was distracted with my toddler at the time. But I also want the school to do something about this kind of bad judgment (breaking MI's booster laws never mind putting 5-7 year olds in front seats!), and it's hard for me to do so without feeling more sure of what I saw. I don't know the make/model of the car, but it was not as large as Taurus or Impala. I would be LIVID though if that were my child, and I sent him with a booster, and it wasn't used because the school didn't have enough space/drivers.
Thoughts or advice?