What's better in this scenario?

TN Mary

New member
A 50-ish lb 8 yr old sitting in the front seat (w/air bag sensors) OR in the back with only a lap belt?

My friend has 4 children and will be transporting an extra child for a few days next week. The only way her Suburban will hold everyone is to put the 8 yr old either up FRONT or in the back w/a LAP belt.

What do you guys think?? :whistle:
 
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arly1983

New member
Up front. Lap belts are not safe for anyone, even adults. Make sure she pushes the front seat as far back as it can go.
 

TN Mary

New member
That's what I was thinking too.

I sent her this info on lap belt use:


LAP BELT USE

THE VISUAL:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3KXZQu4niA

THE PLAY BY PLAY:

Lap belts generally prevent the individual from being ejected, but do not protect the head, neck, spine or internal organs adequately.
There are two types of injury associated with using a lap only belt:
Head and/or neck injury. This is caused when the individual is thrown forward and has no upper body restraint. They continue moving forward until they are stopped by something. Many times, it is the head that contacts the interior of the vehicle - dashboard, front seats, consoles, door frames, even the floor of the vehicle or the individual's knees. The injuries can be severe brain trauma from impacting something at a high rate of speed, cuts, abrasions, skull fractures, broken neck, jaw fractures, orbital fractures, etc. The neck can also be severely injured including the spinal cord being severed. The spinal cord is not able to be stretched beyond a certain point. In frontal crashes, a lap only belt will hold the lower body in place, but the heavy head will pull the upper body forward at a high rate. If the head does not contact anything to stop the rapid forward motion, the neck will eventually stop the head, but the force of this will stretch the neck bones, muscles and even the spinal cord - often beyond it's limit. Children and adults both have been paralyzed or killed in this manner - their spinal cord simply wasn't capable of stretching enough to withstand the crash force.
Seat Belt Syndrome. Seat Belt Syndrome, or SBS, is a phrase that was originally coined by the medical community in the late 1950s and early 1960s to describe injuries that physicians were seeing as a result of occupants wearing lap-belt-only restraints in frontal collisions. These injuries typically include: (1) severe abdominal injuries, (2) fractures of the lumbar spine, and (3) serious closed head and facial injuries. These injuries are primarily the result of the occupant's body jackknifing over the lap belt, at the waist, during the collision. Under such circumstances, the lap belt causes extreme force to be applied along the pelvis to the mid-section of the occupant. Securing the waist without securing the upper torso leads to increased head and neck velocities, which can cause serious head and neck injuries following either a head strike or inertial loading of the spine. A majority of these injuries can be prevented by the installation of an integrated three-point belt or other upper-torso restraint.
 

TerisBoys

Well-known member
SafeR would be to put a larger, harnessed child FF up front, and the 8yo in a booster in the back.
 

TN Mary

New member
Sadly... but none of her kids are harnassed - including the 3 yr old.
She's a dear friend of mine... I've been working on her but not trying to be too pushy! :eek:
 

my2kidsSafe

New member
Sadly... but none of her kids are harnassed - including the 3 yr old.
She's a dear friend of mine... I've been working on her but not trying to be too pushy! :eek:

so is that saying that when she doesn't have the extra child with her she has someone already in that position with the lap belt only. Maybe try to convince her to harness her 3 year old in the lap belt only so she doesn't have to worry about that position.
 

TN Mary

New member
No... no one normally rides in the lap belt. She tries to avoid it.
But was only considering it since there was going to be an extra rider totaling 5 kids (4 being her own).

Normally, she has 2 in the middle row and 2 in the third row.
Since there was going to be a 5th kid, she's having to choose to stick one in the lap belt (middle, 3rd row) or put a child in the front seat with an air bag.

She is sure her sensors are reliable up front (according to the sensor light with varying weights)... I had mentioned to her about how sometimes sensors aren't completely reliable.

This thread talked about it...
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=42632&highlight=airbag+sensors

ETA: I never thought having her youngest using that lap belt in a harnessed seat. I forget some car seats can be installed that way. If she did that, she could easily fit 3 across that back row, which would free up space in her middle row for extra riders.
 

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