I don’t want my kids in their car. Reasonable?

[Anonymous]

We are caravaning to Florida with my parents. They are hoping to occasionally let our DC ride with them in their car. The car we will be taking has a 5 star rating in all departments except one, where it’s a 4 star. Their car is known for poor ratings in every department. You hear horror stories, and my better judgement is telling me not to allow it. I don’t want to flat out say that their car is unreliable in a crash. What would you say? Also, my husband thinks I’m being paranoid so he’s no help.

[Anonymous]

You're being paranoid.

[Anonymous]

I don’t let anyone else drive my kid, so I would say no.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t let anyone else drive my kid, so I would say no.

Well, we do, so this won’t work.

[Anonymous]

Why don’t you let your parents drive your car with your kids in it, and you drive the other car for a while?

[Anonymous]

What kind of car is it?

[Anonymous]

Are we talking, like, a Volvo vs. Kia or something?

Do your parents have a bad driving record or are you just hating on their car?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why don’t you let your parents drive your car with your kids in it, and you drive the other car for a while?

This is the obvious solution. Unless your real concern is that they aren’t good drivers?

[Anonymous]

Not reasonable. If you insisting on drawing this line, just own the fact that you have an anxiety disorder and this is part of how you manage it. Accept that you’re being irrational but you need this accommodation.

[Anonymous]

If an accident happens, you want them covered under your car insurance policy, especially if the other driver is uninsured or underinsured. This is why we only let our nanny and other family members drive our kids in our car. We have a million dollar uninsured/underinsured motor policy. If an accident happens in someone else’s car, it does not apply.

No, you are not paranoid about not wanting other people to drive your kid on a long distance trip on hwys. Car accidents are a leading cause of death and injury in kids.

[Anonymous]

I'm curious: do you read the ratings for every car your child rides in? Is this a standard you apply universally?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious: do you read the ratings for every car your child rides in? Is this a standard you apply universally?

And if so, because you say you let other people drive your child, how do you find out ahead of time what kind of car they have? Do you ask, look it up, and then grant permission based on your findings?

[Anonymous]

You're ridiculous--also, those ratings tend to be based on driver fatalities and safety (front airbags, etc.) and not passengers in the back.

[Anonymous]

Would you have to stop and uninstall and re-install a car seat every time? That would be annoying enough that I would use it as an excuse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You're ridiculous--also, those ratings tend to be based on driver fatalities and safety (front airbags, etc.) and not passengers in the back.

NHTS safety ratings are all based on adults sitting in the front seats, so you're really asking if your parents or you are going to get hurt given you get in a crash. The only exception is side impact, which takes into consideration an adult in the back (not a child in a car seat) as a small portion of the rating.