Dd's 4-yo friend rides w/her grandpa in booster in front seat

expecting-joy · Apr 25, 2008

Not sure how to respond.

My dd goes to pre-school and her classmate rides in a very simple booster in the front seat when her grandpa brings her to school. I guess I should note year, make and model, but I haven't. I'm not naturally a car person.

My dd wants to know why her friends rides in front. She hasn't noticed or doesn't have words to comment on the booster vs. the 5-pt-harnessed carseat she rides in. In our state, it is officially RECOMMENDED, that children ride in the back seat until they are 13 yo.

(State law allows use of a booster over 40 pounds and she is over 40 pounds.)

Just wondering if you wise folks have a good answer.

TIA!

Defrost · Apr 26, 2008

Um... what's the question?

Do you mean "Why is the back seat safer?" or "Why does my friend ride in the front?"

The back seat is safer because it's further from the point of impact. The back seat is 40% safer for everyone, and that number goes up the younger the child in question is.

As for the second question, I'd just tell my DD the Grandpa probably didn't know any better.

southpawboston · Apr 26, 2008

Defrost said:
The back seat is safer because it's further from the point of impact. The back seat is 40% safer for everyone, and that number goes up the younger the child in question is.\

maybe for frontal impacts, but what about side impacts?

scatterbunny · Apr 26, 2008

Side impacts are less common that frontal crashes, though they are more deadly. But with side impacts, there's no way to know which side you'll be hit on, or if it'll be more toward the front or more toward the back. The backseat is definitely the safest in the most common/widest variety of crashes. The only time I can think of that it might not be safest is when being rear-ended by a very large vehicle (thinking specifically of that minivan that was rear-ended by a semi truck, and it totally obliterated the third row, and IIRC, most of the middle row, as well), or in a side impact squarely on a rear door, with a child seated next to the door.

expecting-joy · Apr 29, 2008

Sorry I wasn't clear. I was thinking about the "Why O. rides in the front when I'm not allowed" part. Do you pass along information to others in this situation or just go with the "different rules in different households" bit, presuming Grandpa just doesn't know better or presuming he knows and they've chosen to go the other way? He does drive her everyday and she stays with him all day while her mom is at work (parents are divorced and she lives with mom). TMI, I know. And the booster is the same thing, I guess. Do you tell dc maybe they just don't know it's safer? B/c then I think telling them becomes imperative, right? Or do you just say "backseat in a harnessed childseat is safest, so that's how YOU will ride."?

Does that make more sense?

TerisBoys · Apr 29, 2008

I'd take the "different families do things differently" approach, and explain to her why YOU keep her in back in a harness.

Or take it one step further and approach grandpa - he may not KNOW that his precious grand-daughter would be safer in the backseat.

It's kinda like my 'mean mom' thread in chat. Just because my 12yo's friends don't wear their bike helmets doesn't mean he's free to not wear his. I can't protect all the kids in CV - but I can protect MY kids.

Defrost · Apr 29, 2008

Yep, I go with the "different families" approach. I explain that I am in charge of taking care of MY family, and they are in charge of taking care of their family. I try not to make it seem like they are not as good a parent/caregiver, because I honestly don't know the situation, and my oldest tends to be very blunt and straightforward, and would likely start hounding both the child and the parent/caregiver if I just said something along the lines of "If they choose to be unsafe, that's their problem."

I just say that I know our family and our situation, and I make the best choices I can based on our specific needs and circumstances, and that other families usually do the same.

Stretchy Glue · Apr 29, 2008

See, my dd rides in the front seat of her grandpa's truck, in her booster (at 6) because he drives an old Toyota truck and the backseat is not fit for passengers. He picks her up 2-3 days a week. It isn't my first choice but this year I've struggled with childcare issues and FIL stepped up. In ALL other vehicles she rides in the backseat and doesn't question it. She is pretty paranoid about Grandpa's driving and nags him quite a bit and she made him move the seat all the way back, and locks the seatbelt because she knows it's the best thing to do in her situation. If there is a back seat, then there shouldn't be any other option, but at times there is not another option.

SusanMae · Apr 29, 2008

Also without knowing more about the car...maybe the backseat doesn't have shoulder belts. In that case she is safer riding up front, in a booster with a lap/shoulder belt, than in the back with just a lap belt.

Susan

mommyto4kiddos · Apr 30, 2008

SusanMae said:
Also without knowing more about the car...maybe the backseat doesn't have shoulder belts. In that case she is safer riding up front, in a booster with a lap/shoulder belt, than in the back with just a lap belt.

Susan

Thats exactly what I was thinking.

Dd's 4-yo friend rides w/her grandpa in booster in front seat

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