Stricter car seat law coming to California

As a Libertarian, I generally think there are too many laws about too many things, but this one doesn't bother me. I do think that it needs to be publicized more. I live in California and have a 6 year old and no one seems to have any clue as to what the laws are now. My daughter (on the tall side) still rides in a booster with a back. Her friends mostly use no-back boosters, but there are those who have abandoned boosters and those who still use five point harness "baby" car seats! One thing a law would do is eliminate the "but Alex doesn't have to use a booster, why do I have to?" argument from your kids.

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My son is one of those beanpole kids, so we're going to have to upgrade his "baby" carseat soon because of his height. It's not a law yet in Virginia, but I think they've been strongly recommending at least 4'9" as the minimum height for a normal seatbelt and 5'5" to sit in the front seat. We will probably stick with the booster seat with a back as long as we can, since we tend to spend a fair amount of time on the road.

I would support this being law in my own state. Even if you're a perfect driver, you still have to take into account all the inexperienced drivers, road rageaholics, the distracted drivers, and seniors with vision/timing problems who haven't given up their license. I notice that carseat use seems to vary wildly around here. My 2.5 year old son has friends his age who were moved to a cheaper backless booster seat to make room for the new baby, and ones that are older and still in the baby carseat.

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Virginia did make the laws stricter as of July 1, now kids must be in a car seat/booster until the age of 8 (there are exceptions based on weight and height, and you must carry around a letter exempting you.) I haven't heard anything about the other restrictions you mentioned being in the works, I don't think they can legally make 4'9" the minimum for regular seat belts and 5'5" the min for siting in the front, as there are plenty of adults who are shorter than that. My husband and I are both only 5'4", his sisters are only 4'8" and 4'9", and we are all adults.

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Oh, and as far as the Regent car seat goes, if I could afford one I would totally buy one. As much safer as it is for kids to be in a booster, it is at least twice as safe for them to be in a properly installed 5 pt harness.

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Indiana already has the 8 years old/ 4'9" law. I think we've had it for a couple years now and it's not that big of a deal.

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I hope CA does it and I hope that other states follow (WTG to the ones that already have such laws) . Car seat safety is SOOOO important and its amazing how little the averge parent knows. I am willing to bet 90% of parents are not up to date on the subject. They go to a store the manufactuers box says one thing and they just go with it. They dont install properly, use the chest clip properly, the straps are to loose....the list goes on and on. Booster seats say 30lbs-100lbs. If parents took the time to read the manual they would see that it says not to use under 40lbs-even thought the outside of the box says 30lbs. Most kids are not ready for boosters seats until about 5.

I would also like to see more laws for extended rear facing. It should NOT just be 20lbs AND 1yr. It should be to the limits of your seat. Its ok if legs bend. There has NEVER been a reported case of legs breaking...and legs can be fixed. On the other hand there have been many children loose their lives b/c their neck breaks. Children are 4 times more likely to be killed if they are in an accident forward facing before the age of 2.

We practice extended rear facing with our 17month old until 33lbs (the RF weight of our seat) and my 3 1/2 yr old will be harnessed to 80lbs.

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In Illinois, you must be in a car seat or booster until age 8. Regardless of height. They passed that law back in 2004. For once, the midwest seems to be ahead of the game!

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Huh, I missed that also went into effect here in July. The only thing that's even gotten any coverage up here is the new reckless driving fines. Kinda surprised we missed it, since my son had his last batch of shots in July and we talked about the possibility of moving him out of his old baby carseat before December, because of his height.

I would think any law with a height restriction that requires a carseat would have to have an exemption for adults. I did a few searches, and seems like most things that mention minimum heights are specifically talking about children.

The only thing I found for shorter adults were various manufacturers recommending seatbelt adjusters for people under 65" or disabling the passenger airbag for shorter adult passengers. I also turned up a couple of articles about on average boys don't reach the average male seated height until age 15 (and the average woman never does). Again, they were primarily recommending seatbelt adjusters and for manufacturers to fix this design flaw.

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Harnessed to 80lbs? My 11 yo is only 70lbs, she might be 13 before she's 80 and I think would totally flake if I dropped her off for her freshman year in HS in a car seat. But my 8 yo is only 48lbs and still in a booster. He likes it because otherwise he could not see out the window. I do want to point out however that you can only use the LATCH system to 40lbs and then regardless of the seat you need to use the seat belt. The LATCH system is only rated to 40lbs.

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Wait, someone actually suggested to leave this up to the parents, when I still see so many parents not putting babies in car seats???.....can't tell you how many cars I have seen where baby was in arms and the car seat was loose in the back seat.

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Refer to the State Child Restraint Requirement of your state before buying a car seat. http://www.childseatcenter.com/article10.html

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