9 y.o. Child in front middle seat of a truck?

[JBN]

Wondering if my 9 year old is safe to ride in the front middle seat of a 2017 F150. She is 4' 8" tall and 62 lbs.

Traveling in Utah and Arizona.

 

[SafeDad]

Wondering if my 9 year old is safe to ride in the front middle seat of a 2017 F150. She is 4' 8" tall and 62 lbs.

Traveling in Utah and Arizona.

Hello and welcome. This would mainly depend on the vehicle owner's manual. As there is probably an active airbag covering the middle seat, so you would want to carefully read the section about seating passengers/children there. It is possible to do this in some trucks, though if it is a crew cab, the rear seat is the safer option.

If allowed by the owners manual, then you would need to check the fit of the seatbelt, especially if you are not using a booster. This applies to any child riding without a booster in any allowed seating position of any vehicle:

The 5-Step Test

What is the 5-Step Test? The 5-Step Test is the only accurate way to assess if a child is optimally protected by a vehicle's lap/shoulder seatbelt system without a booster seat or other type of child restraint. The 5 "test" questions guide parents or caregivers in their assessment of the...

carseatblog.com

 

[aporthole]

Are all of the rear seating positions occupied by other children? At 4’8”, she will likely still need a booster seat of some sort although the belt fit may be different than many traditional seating positions so use the link above to assess against the 5-Step Test. Assuming that she does still need a booster and all of the rear seats are occupied by other children, something like the Graco RightGuide can be a good option for that seating position as it keeps the child lower in the seat (less likely for ears to go above the vehicle head restraint in it’s tallest extension).

 

[ketchupqueen]

You'll definitely want to check on the height of the headrest, since the center is shorter.
If the seat moves back, that should be done, too.