S/O carseats and coats

At the end of the most recent carseats and coats thread (thanks An_Aurora!) there's a question that I've been thinking about a lot recently: If (thick) coats in the carseats are a bad idea, at what age are coats in the car OK (if ever)? Are there any studies on this?

My sister gave me a hard time about this, recently, when I told her no thick coats on her 1 year old in the carseat. Well, she asked, what about the 6YO in the HBB? And what about me?

So what's the answer? Is it universally safer to drive without thick coats on? Is an adult in a thick, puffy coat likely to be ejected? Or at some age (or height/weight) does it become more acceptable (a thick puffy coat on an adult certainly adds fewer inches, percentage-wise, than a thick puffy coat on a toddler)? I actually usually pull off my heavy coat before driving, because it's uncomfortable, and wear a fleece jacket most of the time, so this thread is more to satisfy my curiosity than anything else.

My 7yr old does not ride in puffy coats in his hbb. And neither do I.
If it is that cold we just open the coats and buckle beneath them but as a rule everyone in my house has a car coat. A warm fleece coat.

To me if we want restraints to work correctly the less interference with them, the better.

auto-correct on the loose..

I never ride with more than a fleece on. Partly because I think it's uncomfortable and partly because added layers just takes away from safety.

Same here...everyone has a fleece that we wear in the car...no one wears puffy coats in my vehicle. In fact, I very rarely wear my winter coat unless its raining/sleeting/snowing (though its always in the car for emergency) because my fleece is generally warm enough to get me to/from the van to the building I'm going to.

Basically, the seat belts that come with any car in the last 20-ish years will lock back and restrain the passenger if there is a sudden stop. On the simplest level, they work based on the inertia of the car. As in: the car is moving, it stops suddenly, but the inertial mechanism underneath the floor keeps moving forward (just as anything that is loose in the car's cabin will roll forward), and snaps your seatbelt taut. You can prove it to yourself by jerking your seat belt forward when you are in the car. It will lock.

In normal situations, your seat belt will move with you: lean forward, turn around, lean over to change the radio station, etc. But if something happens, the seat belt will instantly retract and your torso will be held. It's of course not ideal if you are wearing a coat, but the belt will still retract quickly and with enough oomph to compress the bulk and still hold you.

Car seat harness belts do not have those intertial mechanisms, so however taut your child is held when you start the car is how taut he or she will be held in the moment of collision.

Secure the seat TO THE CHILD by tightening the harness properly. Snug as a hug, no pinchable slack above the chest clip (which is level with the armpits).

We grownups get some slack (ha ha punny) because of the locking seatbelts. Children do not get that potentially lifesaving luxury. hth!

CSP, our belts lock, but unless you have pretensioners they do not tighten. Pretensioners are usually only found in the front seats, only in the last decade or so, and not on every vehicle. Without pretensioners, if you are leaning forward at the moment of a crash, then all that extra slack will still be in the belt and you will move forward much more than you otherwise would have. Even with pretensioners, I'm not sure if they are strong enough to move your body back against the vehicle seat or if they just take out the last inch or two of slack from normal motion.

There is no mechanism under the floor of the vehicle, it is all in the seatbelt retractor. Some vehicles have retractors that are webbing-sensitive, meaning that if the webbing starts playing out quickly then it will lock. These are vehicles where you can grab the belt and yank and it will lock. Other vehicles have retractors that are vehicle-sensitive, and you can yank as fast and as hard as you can and it won't lock. They only lock when the vehicle changes speed or direction abruptly.

OP is correct that a bulky coat on an adult generally adds less, percentage-wise, than on a small child. I wear my moderately bulky coat in the car, but I do the coat trick. I leave my coat unzipped, and while it is still behind my back (and compressed by my own weight), I pull it out from under the seatbelt on both sides.

I let my booster riders wear their regular coats.. I don't buy the super puffy things. But my harnessed kids wear thin outer wear...

Sent from my iPod touch, sorry for any auto-correct typos!

I wear my coat. It's not super puffy. It's hip length and I pull it up so my belt is under neath it. The kids haven't been instructed by me in coats/seatbelts since they've been boostered. I better get on that. The last 2 days have been winter coat days!