I had to take a defensive driving class (1st ticket - cop in front of reduced speed sign pulled me). We watched a safety video that talked about how important it was to put babies rear facing "even though they prefer to ff". Unfortunately the infant shown was at like a 75 degree angle. Then they said that once a child hits 20 lbs they NEED to be turned ff and they showed a picture of a little one ff in an old tshield type seat with the straps nearly dangling off his shoulders.
Afterwards I talked to the officier, who is a superviser. I told her I was interested in carseat safety and had questions about how the local dept. handled violations. She said they took them VERY seriously and would pull anyone they saw, and that I could call the nonemergency number to report someone. She went on to say that there was no excuse for not having a seat because the dept would give you a free seat!
She said that they had every kind except infant carriers (combo, hbb, bb). She also said that they got all kinds of grants for free seats and probably had over a 100, and that she knew atleast 2 other nearby depts did too!! Now when I was at the health dept looking for boosters for my friend, they said that they did not know of anyone who could help (even though they are only 2 blocks away).
Now for the bad news. Encouraged by her response I went on to discuss extended rearfacing. She looked at me like I had two heads and told me that you HAD to turn kids at 20#, because the carseats were not made for heavier kids, and what about their poor legs. I told her about the extended rf album, newer recommendations, and extended rf scandavian countries, but she just said that's not what the manuel says and how could a kid be comfortable. She said that her dept would tell you to turn a 20# (even though VA law is 20# AND one year).
Afterwards I talked to the officier, who is a superviser. I told her I was interested in carseat safety and had questions about how the local dept. handled violations. She said they took them VERY seriously and would pull anyone they saw, and that I could call the nonemergency number to report someone. She went on to say that there was no excuse for not having a seat because the dept would give you a free seat!
She said that they had every kind except infant carriers (combo, hbb, bb). She also said that they got all kinds of grants for free seats and probably had over a 100, and that she knew atleast 2 other nearby depts did too!! Now when I was at the health dept looking for boosters for my friend, they said that they did not know of anyone who could help (even though they are only 2 blocks away).
Now for the bad news. Encouraged by her response I went on to discuss extended rearfacing. She looked at me like I had two heads and told me that you HAD to turn kids at 20#, because the carseats were not made for heavier kids, and what about their poor legs. I told her about the extended rf album, newer recommendations, and extended rf scandavian countries, but she just said that's not what the manuel says and how could a kid be comfortable. She said that her dept would tell you to turn a 20# (even though VA law is 20# AND one year).