Question 99 ford ranger ext cab

[Unregistered]

We are in Georgia and have a 99 Ford Ranger pickup truck with a very small extended cab. The back seats are the small sideways facing seats. When my 6 year old, 40 pound, 41" son rides in the truck we put him in the back using the seat belt but do not use a booster seat. The booster bottom is bigger than the bottom of the seat so it does not fit. If we were to use it there, it would rock sideways when he sat on it and he would be too tall for the seat belt to fit appropriately. Those seats are quite small and he fits in it very well as it is. I guess our other option would be to let him ride forward facing in the front seat in the booster (airbag off). I feel like he is safer in the back and according to what I'm reading about the law, if there are rear seats, he should be in the rear seat. However, we got a ticket for not having him in the booster in the back. But because there are seats in the back, wouldn't we have been in violation for him riding in the front if he had been up there? How should he really be riding to be as safe as possible? The booster in the back just isn't possible with the size of those seats.

 

[CMeMeC]

I would put him in the front seat, in a booster (possibly a nbb so he would be farther from the dash), with the air bag off. My husband used to have a truck like that and I hated those little seats.

 

[safeinthecar]

Sideways facing seats have very little restraining capability. You just slide sideways out from under the belts in frontal or rear crashes, or go out through the window in near side crashes. They are not safe for kids or adults.

I'm not sure of the reasoning behind your ticket, but purely from the standpoint of safety, it is a wiser choice for your child to ride in the front seat in a booster.

 

[mylittlet]

The side way facing seats can't have any seat installed on them. No harness or booster allow you to put them sideways.

The only safe way to transport your son is in the front seat with a booster.

 

[henrietta]

It is difficult in Georgia, b/c it isn't legal for kids under 12 to ride in the front seat *if there is a back seat*. I would fight the ticket in court, pointing out to the judge that b/c the law says kids must ride in the back seat if there is one AND the trucks manual and ALL child safety seat manuals do NOT allow them to be used on any side or rear-facing seats, you weren't really sure what to do, and thus, followed the law.

I personally think that the officer writing the ticket could have given you a warning and then explained that being in a booster was the most important part and that if the backseats don't allow that, the front seat is the better solution...but he/she probably isn't a CPST and doesn't know that stuff anyways. If he would have ticketed you for not using the back seat, you could have shown him that it's prohibited in the booster's manual for it be used on that back seat.

I know we had 25-30 law enforcement officers from our area in the CPST class I was in last fall, but I don't think any of them were from Georgia. I'm in Chattanooga, just over the line!