Daycares exempt from tether law?

selinajean · Jun 22, 2010

I was just sent this email and I don't know the answer. Are daycares exempt from car seat laws in BC? That seems ridiculous if they are transporting children.....that is their job! Why not do it correctly?

Are there any exceptions to using top tethers in Canada? A girlfriend of mine just dropped off her son at daycare and they're taking a field trip so she installed his Nautilus (he's JUST 4) but there was no top tether anchor. The daycare worker told her that because they are a daycare they didn't have to provide them. ??

snowbird25ca · Jun 22, 2010

I don't know the exemptions off the top of my head, but I am sure that if a seat is being used it has to be used properly - including a top tether anchor.

That being said - and this isn't a dig at BC, but reflecting what I've been told the situation is like there... at least the daycare is having the parents provide seats.

Ideal? Definitely not. Legal? Most likely not. Preferable to no carseat and just using the seatbelt? Definitely (if that exemption is even there still, I'm pretty sure the exemption for non-parents transporting kids has been removed, but I'm not sure if daycares were under a separate exemption. I'm sure Nicole will be able to answer that part definitively.)

QuassEE · Jun 22, 2010

Under the old law in BC, it would've been legal for the child to *not* use a seat and, rather, use the seatbelt.. but it still would've been illegal for the child to improperly use any carseat. Since the manual states that the tether is required, the tether is required. No exemptions in BC since the booster law came into place. Prior to the booster law, a child could be transported in a seatbelt as long as they were 20+lbs and not being transported by a parent or guardian. Daycare workers loved that exemption

-Nicole.

kattale · Jun 22, 2010

Is this a daycare facility, or a home daycare? Not sure if that makes a difference, but I'm curious.
In Ontario, we home daycare providers must transport children legally, according to the same laws as parents. (And I wouldn't be happy any other way!) But I don't know if the big facilities have to - I've seen some of them just rent a school-bus for all their tiny lightweight preschoolers.

melissainbc · Jun 22, 2010

kattale, I was the one who originally asked Selina about this. It is a daycare facility with a couple of 12 (or some other large number) passenger vans.

BTW, my friend did not send her son in the van.

Kat_Shoshin · Jun 23, 2010

Our daycare centre has correctly installed seats - they made an employee a tech and they believe they have to do so.

This is one of the reasons that daycare centres in our area use public transport (the bus) so that they don't have to worry about child seats.

mommycat · Jun 24, 2010

Have her ask to see the vans' manuals and check for top tether anchor locations. They may look different than in a smaller vehicle. The 15-pass van I commute on has what I have ASSUMED are top tethers in some positions, they are attached at the same location as the female buckle of the outboard pass side seatbelts, and look like a short (6"?) piece of webbing with a male metal buckle sewn on. Again, I am not 100% sure that these are the tethers or for which locations they can be used, and not all vans would have them, but it is worth it to check.

Ok, here's something. This is from the 2008 Chevrolet Express Owner's Manual.

Keeanh · Jun 24, 2010

mommycat said:
Have her ask to see the vans' manuals and check for top tether anchor locations. They may look different than in a smaller vehicle. The 15-pass van I commute on has what I have ASSUMED are top tethers in some positions, they are attached at the same location as the female buckle of the outboard pass side seatbelts, and look like a short (6"?) piece of webbing with a male metal buckle sewn on. Again, I am not 100% sure that these are the tethers or for which locations they can be used, and not all vans would have them, but it is worth it to check.

Yes, that's right. That's the van we have. Here's my post that has a picture of where the tethers are generally found -- incorrectly pulled through to the front.
http://www.car-seat.org/showpost.php?p=1312829&postcount=14

melissainbc · Jun 24, 2010

I'm going to swing by the daycare today and see if we can figure anything out. I'd imagine that with it being summer now they'll be having more field trips. It would be nice if everyone was restrained correctly!

Thanks for the help everyone

Daycares exempt from tether law?

selinajean

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melissainbc

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