What laws/regulations do you wish your state/province/country had that another does?

MarathonMama

New member
I got to thinking that it is amazing that each state/province/country has such different laws and regulations when it comes to child passenger safety.

Are you particularly proud of your state/prov/country? If so, what for?

What do you wish would change about the laws/regulations for your particular state/prov/country?

Is there anyting particularly atrocious about your state/prov/country laws/regulations?
 
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crunchierthanthou

New member
Ours are pretty good - we have a proper use clause and boosters are required til 8 or 4'9". We have a secondary seatbelt law (primary under age 19).

I wish it was a primary seatbelt law for adults, and I'd really love a bike helmet law. I'd support motorcycle helmets, too. Does any place have a kids in back til 12 or similar?

I hate that you can have more occupants than seatbelts, though. You can have unrestrained passengers as long as every belt in the vehicle is in use. :rolleyes:
 

christineka

New member
Kids under 12 in back unless all rear seating positions are occupied.
Everyone must use a seatbelt (or sit in a car seat installed via seatbelt/latch). NO EXCEPTIONS! (Currently if you have more people than seating positions, the extras can ride unrestrained.)
Booster till 12 or 4' 9". (I know this is law in Europe.)
 

momto3girls

Senior Community Member
I wish our law would say age 8 or higher for car seat usage. It's 6 right now. :thumbsdown: We do have a proper usage clause though.

The law also requires everyone to wear seat belts in the front seats and children up to age 18 must be restrained. This means that adults in the backseat don't have to wear seat belts. :eek:
 

littleangelfire

Well-known member
I wish we had a helmet law. Sort of. Because what I really wish is that people wouldn't be stupid/arrogant enough to ride 70mph on a motorcycle without one. I don't particularly believe that laws sincerely affect the way people behave if there's no risk of being caught especially. And while I'm not an anarchist, lol, I tend to find many laws rather invasive and wish people would make the right choice regardless of laws. They could make it illegal to smoke while pregnant, that would be nice, lol, except that lots of women would do it anyways, especially in those early months where no one know they're pregnant by looking at them. Ideally it would be better for them to make the right choice without a law.

But that's idealist which is silly, I suppose. A helmet law would be nice. A rear facing law would be great. For the most par tI love where I live, though. :) Especially homeschooling laws. No intervention from the state, tis wonderful to raise and teach my child what is best if for him and not what some principal says is best for him.
 

BookMama

Senior Community Member
The laws in my state aren't too bad, since they strengthened them two years ago. Now it's 8 or 4'9" for seat belt usage, under 4 in back seat if available, primary seat belt law for everyone. :thumbsup:

I just wish everyone would follow the law. :rolleyes:
 

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician
I'm a rather staunch libertarian so I get a little twitchy at the idea of more laws. However, I'm more accepting of them when it comes to protecting kids.

I'd love to have an 8/4'9" restraint law. Our current one is 6 OR 60, and Arnold vetoed the 8/80 bill last time it was in front of him. (He did, however, sign into law a bill that makes it illegal to smoke with minors in the car.)

We do have helmet laws for motorcycles. We also have helmet laws for people under 18 on bikes/scooters/rollerblades/etc., which I LOVE, but no one seems to follow or enforce it. :(
 

menfusse

New member
Our booster law is 7 and over 50". They had a much better proposition go up many times and it was always knocked down for one reason or another. Even at one point something about not being able to hold the vehicle operator criminally responsible for the death of an unrestrained child. It's suddenly not against the law if they're killed I guess. Whatever. I wish it was older and taller, but especially taller. My kid is almost 9, tall for her age, well over 50 inches and does not pass the 5 step test at all.

Anyway, seatbelt is primary. We LOST our helmet law though a couple of years back. Surprisingly though, we don't see a lot of bikers without helmets around here. We see them, but it's rare.

I guess a good thing is somewhere in the literature, there is a stipulation about backseats under 13-only as *strongly suggested*, and if there is a lap only belt that there are other devices that should be used, i.e..vest or harness.
 

Katy

New member
I mainly would like to see our cops enforcing the law.

A RF law would be awesome but is it a law anywhere else?
 

canadiangie

New member
Right now children have to be harnessed to 40 pounds or 6 years old, whichever comes first.

We have no booster law in this province.

What it means is that a 40lb 2 year old can legally go into an adult seatbelt.

We do have a proper use clause written within our legislation that talks a bit about proper belt fit (shoulder belt not under the arm, etc) but it does not go as far as to list the 5 Step Test or anything specific about belt fit on a child's body.

Obviously I would like to see a booster seat law come into effect. It would also be nice to see the minimum age for booster use be addressed. Gone are the days where a 40lb child has no other option but to use a booster, so I think it would be reasonable to suggest a minimum age for booster use.


Also, because we have no boosters that start under 40 pounds, we have sort of an awkward loophole when it comes to children that reach age 6 before they hit 40 pounds. Clearly a 6 year old still needs a belt positioning booster, and many 6 year olds have torso's too tall for most 5 point harnessed seats. But to use a booster prior to 40lbs is illegal in this country.

What to do about this I have no idea. I'm sure the answer is simple and I am just too tired to think of it.
 

bubbaray

New member
Our laws in BC are pretty good -- RFg to minimum of 1/20 or to limits of seat; harnessed to 40lb or limits of seat; booster to age 9 or a particular height, which I can't remember right now.

I wish Canada would approve two things: vests and Swedish seats. I love checking out the Swedish seats on the Int'l forum
 

Maedze

New member
I wish that it was illegal to smoke in a car with minors in it, as it is in California and a few other states.
 

birdflippin'

New member
I wish Manitoba had a booster law and wasn't so vague on the 5 and 50lbs in a child seat law. The forward facing law also needs to be changed from 22lbs and walking (so legally my 9 month old could go forward:eek:) to an age specific.
 

pj2rc

New member
bike helmets are law until 12 -- but I don't think it is ever enforced because I rarely see kids w/ them.

We used to have a motorcycle helmet law but it was withdrawn a few years ago which sends me through the roof. Safety issues aside -- why is it law that I have to wear a seatbelt in my vehicle surrounded by steel and someone riding a motorcycle doesn't have to wear a helmet -- ridiculous.

Car seat law pretty good -- under 4 must be in a harness or booster that meets manufaturer standards (not happy they allow booster) and must be in a booster until 8 unless 80" or 4' 9" before -- but I'm not sure how well they are enforced
 

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