hedgefun
New member
Spinning off of yesterday's discussion on 3 year olds in boosters -
We all know that many manufacturers have the 3 & 30 minimum for boosters. The result can be many children who could/should still be harnessed ending up in a booster, even though the parent/caregiver has read the manual cover to cover. I was thinking about how manufacturers might be able to better disclose proper use of boosters. I'm not a tech and know nothing about what is required to go into a child restraint manual, so my idea might not even be feasible. But I wanted to throw it out there and see what others think!
(1) What if boosters had an age and weight chart? - We don't really want a child at 3 & 30 in a booster, but what about an older child who is closer to 30? We discussed that some 3 y/o might be too heavy for a seat that certain families might be able to afford, so what about making the 3 y/o minimum the max of a seat like the Scenera? I know we would rather not see a 3 y/o in a booster at all, though.
(2) What about disclosures about the "maturity" factor? - I think I would love to see in big, bold letters with pictures that the child must remain in proper position for the seatbelt to actually work properly, including a disclosure that the child can be ejected from the vehicle if s/he is leaning out of the seatbelt. Maybe underneath there could also be a discussion of the NHTSA recommendation for 4-7 to be harnessed as long as they fit in their harnessed seats. This could also be an asterisk item on the box underneath the age/weight chart.
I don't think these ideas are perfect by any means, and I'm sure all of you guys can find holes in all of them! They were just some things I was thinking about, so I wanted to discuss.
We all know that many manufacturers have the 3 & 30 minimum for boosters. The result can be many children who could/should still be harnessed ending up in a booster, even though the parent/caregiver has read the manual cover to cover. I was thinking about how manufacturers might be able to better disclose proper use of boosters. I'm not a tech and know nothing about what is required to go into a child restraint manual, so my idea might not even be feasible. But I wanted to throw it out there and see what others think!
(1) What if boosters had an age and weight chart? - We don't really want a child at 3 & 30 in a booster, but what about an older child who is closer to 30? We discussed that some 3 y/o might be too heavy for a seat that certain families might be able to afford, so what about making the 3 y/o minimum the max of a seat like the Scenera? I know we would rather not see a 3 y/o in a booster at all, though.
(2) What about disclosures about the "maturity" factor? - I think I would love to see in big, bold letters with pictures that the child must remain in proper position for the seatbelt to actually work properly, including a disclosure that the child can be ejected from the vehicle if s/he is leaning out of the seatbelt. Maybe underneath there could also be a discussion of the NHTSA recommendation for 4-7 to be harnessed as long as they fit in their harnessed seats. This could also be an asterisk item on the box underneath the age/weight chart.
I don't think these ideas are perfect by any means, and I'm sure all of you guys can find holes in all of them! They were just some things I was thinking about, so I wanted to discuss.