ticketed for having a 3 year old rearfacing?

mumof2 · Jan 10, 2011

apparently a woman (read about on another message board I go on) was ticketed for having her 3 year old rearfacing the cop said they have to be forward facing at 6 months (everyone was telling her to contest the ticket., I know I would)

so then it got onto older children rearfacing and how can they be comfortable so I posted a photo of my 3 year old rearfacing in her radian just to show that a normal sized 3 year old can indeed be rearfacing and be comfortable.

then another mum wondered about have her 2.5 year old rearfacing as she still so little about 28" and 20lbs...well anyway after seeing the photo of my 3 year old rearfacing she said she is definitely turning her 2.5 year old back rearfacing.

and my husband thought I was nuts for taking a photo of my 3 year old rearfacing in her carseat

icnee · Jan 10, 2011

yay, so glad you posted that pic.

Polola0628 · Jan 10, 2011

mumof2 said:
apparently a woman (read about on another message board I go on) was ticketed for having her 3 year old rearfacing the cop said they have to be forward facing at 6 months (everyone was telling her to contest the ticket., I know I would)

so then it got onto older children rearfacing and how can they be comfortable so I posted a photo of my 3 year old rearfacing in her radian just to show that a normal sized 3 year old can indeed be rearfacing and be comfortable.

then another mum wondered about have her 2.5 year old rearfacing as she still so little about 28" and 20lbs...well anyway after seeing the photo of my 3 year old rearfacing she said she is definitely turning her 2.5 year old back rearfacing.

and my husband thought I was nuts for taking a photo of my 3 year old rearfacing in her carseat

Go you!

MommaKellie · Jan 10, 2011

How absurd!? I wonder where this happened where police think it's okay to FF a 6 month old!? It's amazing how your reply in a post inspired a woman to make a more safe choice for her little one! As you know, 3 year olds talk A LOT, and I'm sure that if our3 year olds were uncomfortable RF'ing, they would let us know!

KiwiGem · Jan 10, 2011

mumof2 said:
apparently a woman (read about on another message board I go on) was ticketed for having her 3 year old rearfacing the cop said they have to be forward facing at 6 months (everyone was telling her to contest the ticket., I know I would)

She is a friend of mine of FB so she's got a couple of us helping her out now with information & we have no doubt the ticket will be reversed. She's very well educated herself about ERF & the seats she has so she won't be easily swayed!

mumof2 · Jan 10, 2011

MommaKellie said:
How absurd!? I wonder where this happened where police think it's okay to FF a 6 month old!? It's amazing how your reply in a post inspired a woman to make a more safe choice for her little one! As you know, 3 year olds talk A LOT, and I'm sure that if our3 year olds were uncomfortable RF'ing, they would let us know!

very true and besides when someone does ask what do older children do with their legs I usually reply with "their legs bend"

and often what would be uncomfortable to a fully grown adult isnt to a child

mumof2 · Jan 10, 2011

KiwiGem said:
She is a friend of mine of FB so she's got a couple of us helping her out now with information & we have no doubt the ticket will be reversed. She's very well educated herself about ERF & the seats she has so she won't be easily swayed!

oh yay and I think the police need a little (ok maybe a lot) more education about car seat safety.

Evolily · Jan 10, 2011

I here stories like this periodically, and while I don't doubt some people have been ticketed for ERFing, part of me wonders if the people posting this stories aren't trolling

.

Glad your photo helped, though :thumbsup:

icnee · Jan 10, 2011

Its true about alot of police not know about car seats. My older bro is one and he has told me he dont know the law of when they can be out of a seat and I know he dont know any thing els about them. He thinks Im just nuts for my kids being backwards and my hudge 9yo being in a booster.

chelsey · Jan 10, 2011

icnee said:
Its true about alot of police not know about car seats. My older bro is one and he has told me he dont know the law of when they can be out of a seat and I know he dont know any thing els about them. He thinks Im just nuts for my kids being backwards and my hudge 9yo being in a booster.

Yep ,my local Policemen (and CPS)didn't want to install my car seat RF when my son was a little over 12 months(maybe 14-15 months old).He said it's illegal and he MUST FF because it's the law.He said that if they are either 20 Ibs or 1 year old(not both) you need to turn them FF because in case of the accident they will break their legs:thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown:
I hope I want see him again because he would give me a ticket for my almost 3 year old RF:thumbsdown:

britfish · Jan 10, 2011

wow, what state is it? I haven't every seen laws that specific, I know our states laws are pathetic.

Baylor · Jan 10, 2011

This really makes me mad.. how many other parents has this uniformed officer stopped and made flip their seats.. Is there an 800 number for safekids that could be called in this instance for backup?

I am so upset by this.

LISmama810 · Jan 10, 2011

Based on KiwiGem's screenname and the reference to six months, I'm guessing Australia.

NannyMom · Jan 10, 2011

CelticLabyrinth said:
I here stories like this periodically, and while I don't doubt some people have been ticketed for ERFing, part of me wonders if the people posting this stories aren't trolling .

Glad your photo helped, though :thumbsup:

I think Judi knows someone IRL that was ticketed for ERF.

Mom-of-Two · Jan 10, 2011

That's unreal. I was tickled pink when I had my seats checked at my fire station, I called ahead and made sure it was an actual certified tech that knew what they were doing and she said it was the fire chief, who was a certified tech- I didn't know what to expect but I was FLOORED when I pulled in with my then 2.5yo RF, and the guy applauded me and said he'd love to see him RF to the limits of his Marathon- which he did. The guy knew about the seats I had, and without having to consult a manual, knew what to look for on the Britax seats and we had a good chat, he said it's not common in this area - Ohio- but they like to tell parents to RF until the weight limits of the car seat, even though he never sees it happen, I think I made his day and he made mine!

At any rate, that's insane. Such horrible advice out there.

I was actually with my SIL not too long ago, and my 3yo was RF- she was surprised to see how well he DID fit and that he wasn't squished and WANTED to be that way- it woke her up a bit about the issue and I was happy. Her girls are too old now but maybe she will be more positive about it from here on out!

LISmama810 · Jan 10, 2011

It definitely sucks, and it'll probably be a hassle to get it straightened out, but i always get a little jealous when I hear things like this

I would actually love to be ticketed for ERF. I'd have no problem fighting it, and I'd run to the media faster than you can say "Sunshine Kids" to get some publicity for the cause.

snowbird25ca · Jan 10, 2011

LISmama810 said:
Based on KiwiGem's screenname and the reference to six months, I'm guessing Australia.

Yes, I'm also thinking it's Australia based on "mum" which isn't too common around North America.

Unfortunately, ff'ing at 6 months is the norm over there, and it is illegal to use a non-Australia certified seat - I don't believe any Australian seats rf beyond 20lbs unless that's recently changed.

So if mom is in Australia, she may have difficulty fighting this ticket if the seat is imported illegally.

I believe New Zealand has approved the use of some FMVSS certified seats, so if she's in New Zealand she may have a chance.

Kat_Momof3 · Jan 10, 2011

GO YOU!

(I hope the mother fights the ticket and wins and the cop is thoroughly righted!)

safeinthecar · Jan 10, 2011

Sometimes cops give tickets for bizarre things. Not just car seat issues. I am friends with a lot of people that are classic car buffs. I know people that have gotten tickets for only having 1 mirror (stock Model T ford) and for driving a crank engine car (was told cars without electric starts are illegal)

KiwiGem · Jan 10, 2011

britfish said:
wow, what state is it? I haven't every seen laws that specific, I know our states laws are pathetic.

We're in New Zealand. We have quite a few seats here now that allow ERF, we're allowed to legally import & use Swedish seats & we have a good number of US seats that have passed our standards testing to be legally sold here too.

We have a lot of confusion about our very ambiguously written child restraint laws here & a lot of hangover from when we only accepted Australian standards seats with really low limits (26lbs rf'ing & 40lbs ff'ing with really short shells) which wasn't all that long ago in the whole scheme of things. Our law is currently written to say that babies under 6mths must be rearfacing & a recommendation that babies remain rearfacing until 12 mths which if parents choose the wrong seat, a lot struggle to meet that recommendation.

Another friend of mine works in the Christchurch area & has been giving regular training for child restraint checkpoints with the traffic policing unit down there so she is going to ask them for more nationwide contacts & see how widespread the lack of knowledge is.

The lady who got ticketed had both her children rf'ing in Radians. She wrote on her FB last night that after talking to a couple of supervisors at the policing unit, it seems they issue heaps of fines then send people to get it checked / given information & if you do that, they clear the fine. They're not actually supposed to be issuing tickets based on opinion that something looks unsafe, they have to know the person has definitely broken a law - that is definitely as issue to be raised because it's such an uphill battle getting parents to consider ERF anyway without them being fined for doing so.

ticketed for having a 3 year old rearfacing?

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