Question Car seat laws/penalties in WA?

robbertbobbert · Feb 16, 2012

I tried to post this earlier but my Internet kept crapping out, so hopefully it doesn't show up twice.

What are the car seat laws in WA and how much are the penalties if you get a ticket? My brain is too fried to do any kind of research right now.

I'm STILL trying to get the mom I sit for to put her four year old an six year old in seats.

They currently go between no seats and no belts, belts with the shoulder part behind the back, and shared front seat no belt.

It breaks my heart to see them like that.

Jessica61624 · Feb 16, 2012

We have a proper use law here. As well as 8 or 4 9 to be without a booster.

Eta a no seat belt ticket is $101 iirc. And they can pull you over for not wearing one.

robbertbobbert · Feb 16, 2012

Jessica61624 said:
We have a proper use law here. As well as 8 or 4 9 to be without a booster.

Eta a no seat belt ticket is $101 iirc. And they can pull you over for not wearing one.

Thanks.

Would that be $101 for each person not wearing one?

Cryssy Jane · Feb 16, 2012

robbertbobbert said:
Thanks.

Would that be $101 for each person not wearing one?

Yes. And if the are minors the driver gets the ticket.

Sent from my iPhone using Car-Seat.Org

Brigala · Feb 16, 2012

I believe it's also a ticket to have a child under a certain age in the front seat in WA, isn't it?

wendytthomas · Feb 16, 2012

It's illegal to have a child under the age of 13 in the front seat when it's practical to have them in the back, yes.

Wendy

robbertbobbert · Feb 16, 2012

wendytthomas said:
It's illegal to have a child under the age of 13 in the front seat when it's practical to have them in the back, yes.

Wendy

So would that be an additional seatbelt ticket? Or is it a different amount?

I'm trying to convince her that getting pulled over ONE time would be more expensive than buying the freaking seats (which would be easily done for under $200). She has money, though, so it's just that she doesn't think it's important.

Brigala · Feb 16, 2012

I don't know, but I suspect that if they're both without a booster AND in the front seat that would be a ticket for each.

So if she straps both kids into the front seat with one seat belt, she's at the very least got four violations: Two kids without boosters and two kids in the front seat. There might also be an additional ticket for improper use of a seat belt because they're sharing one belt.

I bet she'd be looking at $500 or so worth of tickets if she got caught like that.

Pretty stupid when the whole thing can be solved with two $9.99 low back boosters from Walmart (assuming both kids are big enough to use boosters). http://www.walmart.com/ip/Harmony-Juvenile-LiteRider-Youth-Backless-Booster-Car-Seat-Pink/15047827

I wouldn't even waste my breath trying to get her to buy harnessed seats for them.

wendytthomas · Feb 16, 2012

If she doesn't think it's important, then good luck.

Wendy

robbertbobbert · Feb 16, 2012

J is 38 lbs
N is 49 lbs and really short

I mean I guess she'd be avoiding tickets by putting them in lbbs, but no way in hell would they sit in them properly. If they aren't asleep in the car, they're trying to hit each other, climb into the front, hang out the windows, lay on the floor, whatever. There's no way they'd stay in position at all.

I showed her the GN J rides in in my car and the HB Turbo N rides in (I'll have him in a harness the second I can afford a second one, he doesn't sit right), and she really liked the GN. Especially since I found a black one.

wendytthomas said:
If she doesn't think it's important, then good luck.

That's what I'm thinking at this point. When it first came up she seemed really concerned about getting an expensive ticket, and asked me to pick out seats for her and tell her where to get them.

So that's why I'm asking how much she could be get a ticket for, since apparently the price of the ticket is more important than her kids' safety.

ahgirls · Feb 16, 2012

I miss WA car seat laws thats all.

Brigala · Feb 16, 2012

robbertbobbert said:
J is 38 lbs
N is 49 lbs and really short

I mean I guess she'd be avoiding tickets by putting them in lbbs, but no way in hell would they sit in them properly. If they aren't asleep in the car, they're trying to hit each other, climb into the front, hang out the windows, lay on the floor, whatever. There's no way they'd stay in position at all.

If a cop saw that, simply having boosters in the car would probably not save her from the ticket. It would depend on the cop, but she'd still be in violation if the children aren't actually sitting IN the boosters properly. "Proper use" is part of the WA law.

If she doesn't think she can discipline the kids to stay seated and keep their belts on, a pair of Nautiluses would be perfect.

But if she doesn't start talking to them about safety, it's only a temporary solution. Eventually they will outgrow them. She needs to model safety by keeping her seat belt on and teach the children to be responsible for keeping themselves buckled, too.

robbertbobbert · Feb 17, 2012

Brigala said:
If she doesn't think she can discipline the kids to stay seated and keep their belts on, a pair of Nautiluses would be perfect.

But if she doesn't start talking to them about safety, it's only a temporary solution. Eventually they will outgrow them. She needs to model safety by keeping her seat belt on and teach the children to be responsible for keeping themselves buckled, too.

I HIGHLY doubt she would even be willing to consider putting N in a harness. Their whole family has this weird gender mindset and I'm sure she would see putting a 6 year old boy in a harness as "weak." Don't even ask me how "strong" she expects a 6 year old to be, or what being safely restrained has to do with masculinity.

They do pretty well in my car with just J harnessed, she's usually the instigator. He messes up my seatbelts in a booster in my car, which is another reason I want him in a harness, but I think he probably could do okay in a booster with some discipline and direction from his mom. He just falls asleep all the time and even with a back on his turbo I've noticed him moving out of position a few times.

I wish car seats made more sense to most people. I just don't get how it's not common sense to realize your four year old and six year old CAN NOT share the front seat, with or without a seatbelt, it's insanely unsafe.

spokaneCPST · Feb 17, 2012

http://www.courts.wa.gov/newsinfo/content/pdf/Bail_Schedule.pdf page 45 has the fine schedule for seatbelt violations. Looks like $124 for failure to use child restraint, failure to secure child under 16, front seat, failure to wear seatbelt, or wearing seatbelt improperly. And yes, the officer can use all of the fines at once - $124 for each infraction. Could add up to a very large fine!

Question Car seat laws/penalties in WA?

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