Carpooling and front seat age requirement
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Anonymous
| Do you let under 13s ride in the front seat as part of your carpool? We've been asked to join a carpool that would require this both in our car and in the other family's. |
Anonymous
| Where do you get the under 13 "requirement"? |
Anonymous
|
New poster, here. It's a common recommendation:
"Maryland's law does not state a child can't ride in the front seat (except for rear-facing infants in a car with active airbags, this is against instructions, very dangerous and illegal), however, it is strongly recommended by all safety experts that children ride in the back seat until they are teenagers. Age 12 and under should ride in the back seat. Children are 40% less likely to be seriously injured or killed in the back seat than the front seat. Remember, the Maryland law states that children must ride in a child restraint system until they are at least eight years old, unless they are over four feet nine inches tall." http://www3.montgomerycountymd.gov/311/Solutions.aspx?SolutionId=1-2USMK5 |
Anonymous
I meant it's a requirement for safety, not a law. NHTSA says passengers 12 and under should continue to ride in the rear seat even if they're able to wear just the adult seat belt. |
Anonymous
| I do not. DD is in middle school. |
Anonymous
Nope. What you let your kid do in your car is your business, but not in my car or with my kid. Related, we had prearranged with another parent to have her bring our kid home from an event when she was 6 or 7. The parent pulled in the driveway with five kids in the back seat of a sedan. Her excuse was that her husband had taken the van that day. The crazy thing is that she thought it was just fine because the kids were "double buckled" (which is what she called it with two kids sharing a seat belt). Don't underestimate the stupidity of other parents. |
Anonymous
|
You just need to discuss with the parents and decide on everyone's comfort. I am in a carpool with 11 year olds and two of them weigh more than me and are my height (5 feet). My 11 year old is 4'2 and weighs 65 pounds.
So, in the carpool, my kid always sits in the back and the 5 feet ones always sit in the front. It's not age it's size that is the safety thing. |
Anonymous
Exactly. My boys were much bigger at 12 than my girls were when they started driving at 15. Now that I think about it, by 12 all three of my boys weighed more and were taller than I am. I guess I should have been in the back seat. But we have 9 year olds in car seats these days. I'm guessing the next step will be five point harnesses for teen drivers. Life is 100% fatal. You take a risk every time you walk out the door. At some point this stuff is overkill. |
Anonymous
| Where are you located? In VA it's just until age 8. |
Anonymous
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The rule should be that you fill the back seats first, and the heaviest and tallest goes in front. |
Anonymous
I don't think this is true. |
Anonymous
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I very occasionally let my 10 year old ride in the front for short trips, because her dad started letting her do it and it was then hard to argue.
I had much bigger kids 10 year olds in my car last week, and I made them ride in back because I didn't know their parents' rule. They were pissed at me. Ask the other parents what they are comfortable with. |
Anonymous
| I never do but my DD is small for her age also. |
Anonymous
http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/childsafety_laws.html |
Anonymous
I may be an idiot but I went to this page and all I see is that a child restraint is required up to 7. I do not see anything about front seat usage. |