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Alberta law
- Thread starter moxy
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selinajean
New member
I just found this on the Safe Kids Canada website.
Looks like a car seat is required to the age of six or 40 pounds, but no mention of specifics for rear or forward-facing. No booster law. (That would give the allowance for a 40 pound 2 year old to be riding in an adult belt?) :thumbsdown:
http://www.safekidscanada.ca/Professionals/Advocacy/Documents/26794-BoosterSeatLegislationChart.pdf
Looks like a car seat is required to the age of six or 40 pounds, but no mention of specifics for rear or forward-facing. No booster law. (That would give the allowance for a 40 pound 2 year old to be riding in an adult belt?) :thumbsdown:
http://www.safekidscanada.ca/Professionals/Advocacy/Documents/26794-BoosterSeatLegislationChart.pdf
selinajean
New member
Hopefully that link is good for you. It does state the actual law section in the traffic safety act for reference if needed.
snowbird25ca
Moderator - CPST Instructor
Yes, AB law is sucky, 40lbs or 6 yrs old. Technically speaking, a 40lb 1yr old could be in just the adult belt - legally. Provided that they put the shoulder belt in front and the lap belt over top - I somehow doubt a kid that age would keep the belt where it was supposed to be, so you can pretty much guarantee that a small kid not in a booster or harness would get a ticket because it's unlikely the seatbelt would be "in the correct orientation."
selinajean
New member
I was just looking at that chart again and I like the idea of the Quebec law. While I don't like that there aren't specifics on type of seat, and I don't know that I agree with their numerical value (I will have to try that out) I DO like the idea of using a seated height as the standard for when a child can move into an adult belt. It does make so much more sense to use a seated height than an overall height and age.
dogmelissa
New member
Yes, Alberta does have proper use law, but there's also a serious lack of programs and information, and with many immigrants there's also a language barrier and cultural differences which seem to result in low compliance in some groups. I personally know at least 2 people using expired seats (like way expired, bought for their now-15 yr old), and another 1 who put their 30lb 3 yr old in a booster (probably also expired).
Enforcement is another issue: I've lived in Calgary my whole life and only been through one check stop (for alcohol), and never seen a car seat check, though I've heard they've happened.
Techs are also difficult to find: it took me half an hour of googling before I found this site, way back when I was pg.
Oh, and even the info from the public health offices is poor: I got a handout recently that said to turn my child FF at 1 yr. Not 'can' or 'may', it said 'switch them to FF at 1 yr'. The nurse also told me the same thing, even though I told her I had a high-RF weight seat.
Vent over.
Melissa
Enforcement is another issue: I've lived in Calgary my whole life and only been through one check stop (for alcohol), and never seen a car seat check, though I've heard they've happened.
Techs are also difficult to find: it took me half an hour of googling before I found this site, way back when I was pg.
Oh, and even the info from the public health offices is poor: I got a handout recently that said to turn my child FF at 1 yr. Not 'can' or 'may', it said 'switch them to FF at 1 yr'. The nurse also told me the same thing, even though I told her I had a high-RF weight seat.
Vent over.
Melissa
I've lived in Edmonton area my whole life and have been through one check stop. I'm not sure if it was actually for carseats or not, but the police officer did take a peek in the back and was pleased to see that our DD was strapped in.
As for health nurses, I got into an argument with one when my DS was 9 months old. We were there for his vax and she commented that he would very soon be too big for the infant carrier(and told me that I was lying about it going to 30lbs because NO seat in the world goes that high for rf'ing) Then she told me that since he was near 20lbs that 3 months "early" wasn't a big deal and I could go ahead and get a ff'ing seat. We argued for about 20 mins until I just got up and left.
A health nurse my SIL saw for my niece though, did tell her to rf as long as possible, and gave her a list of seats in Canada that would allow that
As for health nurses, I got into an argument with one when my DS was 9 months old. We were there for his vax and she commented that he would very soon be too big for the infant carrier(and told me that I was lying about it going to 30lbs because NO seat in the world goes that high for rf'ing) Then she told me that since he was near 20lbs that 3 months "early" wasn't a big deal and I could go ahead and get a ff'ing seat. We argued for about 20 mins until I just got up and left.
A health nurse my SIL saw for my niece though, did tell her to rf as long as possible, and gave her a list of seats in Canada that would allow that
dogmelissa
New member
Regardless of what the limit on your seat was, I'm shocked and appalled that a *nurse* told you 9 mo is "close enough" and to FF at that point. Its the bare minimum, but there's a LAW! omg.
I've given up arguing - I sometimes try to educate the ones I feel are rational and educatable, but I refuse to allow myself to get stressed over those who refuse to understand.
I'm sorry that we live in a province that doesn't seem to care about the safety of kids in cars.
Melissa
I've given up arguing - I sometimes try to educate the ones I feel are rational and educatable, but I refuse to allow myself to get stressed over those who refuse to understand.
I'm sorry that we live in a province that doesn't seem to care about the safety of kids in cars.
Melissa
Aside from my close friends, no one I know even follows the law. My cousin's have no problem turning their 10 month 20lbers ff'ing because it's "close enough". My SIL has her 3y 28lb son in a booster already. No one listens to me, and all think I'm just too overprotective of my kids.
I'm constantly getting laughed at by my in-laws because G is still rf'ing, and then they get mad when I don't let them drive him anywhere. They make fun of A to her face because she's still in a booster at almost 8. Though it's gotten less since she outgrew the back of her booster.
I'm constantly getting laughed at by my in-laws because G is still rf'ing, and then they get mad when I don't let them drive him anywhere. They make fun of A to her face because she's still in a booster at almost 8. Though it's gotten less since she outgrew the back of her booster.
I know nothing about Alberta law (I'm in MB) and I'm not a tech.
I just wanted to comment on that website. That is actually the LAW? Wow. The information on that website is VERY different than what is said on the Manitoba Public Insurance site and very different from any panflet that I have seen out there.
I just wanted to comment on that website. That is actually the LAW? Wow. The information on that website is VERY different than what is said on the Manitoba Public Insurance site and very different from any panflet that I have seen out there.
selinajean
New member
That site is SafeKids Canada, not a site published by the government on provincial laws. It is just a reference chart that SafeKids has put out. Beside the info it gives the province's law number so that you can look it up to verify. It says that it was last updated in 2008 I think so if your laws were updated since then it would not be accurate.
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