thekatie
New member
I just read the poll asking when parents will let their children ride without boosters and it reminded me that I have been wondering something lately.
I drive an '09 RX350. My nearly 1 year old is rear-facing behind the passenger seat and my 8 year old (9 in April) is normally in a booster behind the driver. If we have 5 people in the car, however, I often sit behind the driver seat & we move my oldest and his booster to the middle. I found out the first time that I do NOT 5-step in that seat. Admittedly, I'm only 5'2", but my knees only just bend properly on the seat. I'm fine with that, but the shoulder belt cuts high on my neck, almost touching my chin. The outboard seats have a little thing (I have no idea what they are called), an elastic cord with a clip-type thing that you can thread the seatbelt through, and it adjusts the seatbelt so that it lays against my shoulder.
So, my questions about all this:
1) Is this cord thing actually safe? Logically I'm thinking a) they wouldn't put it in if it wasn't, but I know that's not -always- the case and b) it still has to be way better than being choked before even being in an accident. But I could be so wrong!
2) My son is never going to be really tall. Even after puberty, even when HE'S driving, he's not likely to be tall. IF I'm still driving this car and he was old enough and big enough in every way to sit without a booster except for the shoulder belt, would that be safe for HIM? (obviously I'm talking many years from now, like his teen years)
I drive an '09 RX350. My nearly 1 year old is rear-facing behind the passenger seat and my 8 year old (9 in April) is normally in a booster behind the driver. If we have 5 people in the car, however, I often sit behind the driver seat & we move my oldest and his booster to the middle. I found out the first time that I do NOT 5-step in that seat. Admittedly, I'm only 5'2", but my knees only just bend properly on the seat. I'm fine with that, but the shoulder belt cuts high on my neck, almost touching my chin. The outboard seats have a little thing (I have no idea what they are called), an elastic cord with a clip-type thing that you can thread the seatbelt through, and it adjusts the seatbelt so that it lays against my shoulder.
So, my questions about all this:
1) Is this cord thing actually safe? Logically I'm thinking a) they wouldn't put it in if it wasn't, but I know that's not -always- the case and b) it still has to be way better than being choked before even being in an accident. But I could be so wrong!
2) My son is never going to be really tall. Even after puberty, even when HE'S driving, he's not likely to be tall. IF I'm still driving this car and he was old enough and big enough in every way to sit without a booster except for the shoulder belt, would that be safe for HIM? (obviously I'm talking many years from now, like his teen years)