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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I’m a mom in my late 40s, and my kids were in car seats/boosters longer than their peers. But i do wonder from a pure public policy perspective if all this long term boostering makes sense. The reality is that car seats and boosters aren’t cheap and they seem to be used as a litmus test to show that poor people/people of color are “bad” parents that in some cases are BREAKING THE LAW. I also wonder how much there is a quiet car seat lobby driving all this.

I totally believe all the numbers about safety, but there are lots of things that would be safer that don’t get enacted into laws that are then used to tax poor people essentially who cannot afford them. But I also own my own business and have to run background checks on people that are hourly wage people. The amount of non-moving violations that are used against poor people because they cannot afford to get a headlight fixed, fix a seatbelt, etc, then they cannot pay the fine and then they get arrested when the cannot pay fines is just unbelievable.[/quote]

Infant seats and convertible seats can be expensive (though there are inexpensive options out there that meet all safety standards) but boosters, even high back harnessed boosters, can be much more affordable. I think ours cost like $60? You can get a backless booster for like $15. I’m sure as with anything, there are super high end versions of these that will cost a lot more, but the cheap ones, again, meet all safety standards and will significantly reduce risk of death or injury for a child in a car accident versus just a seat belt that is incorrectly positioned because of their size.

There are also many programs to provide free car seats and boosters to people who can’t afford them— our local fire house runs such a program and we donate to it every year.

While some people might use car seat standards to punish and harass poor people, I really do not think that is the goal behind the standards and recommendations. Those are driven by the fact that advocacy groups don’t want to see kids die in car accidents. Any kids.[/quote]

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