Most important thing is to never put a child in the front passenger side so only take the number of children you can transport in the back seat(s). I do hope all parents who are so stringent on the safety rules of using booster seats and following the law, will also impress upon their teens in a very few years the rules of the road on driving and following the rules of no talking on cell phones, no texting, no drinking etc........because the rule of law is even more important with teen drivers behind the wheel. And I do hope every parent transporting any child, but especially other children who are placed in your care themselves will not talk on the phone or text.

Anonymous wrote:My son is 9 and I don't require other people to use a booster for him if they are driving him in town (ex. school to sports activity close by). Same thing I don't make his 9 and 10 year old friends use a booster but if a parent drops one off for their kid I will use it. I do make 8 year olds use a booster. Risk is relative. I remember riding in the back of station wagons without being belted all through elementary school. Cars are now safer and everyone uses seatbelts with a shoulder strap.

That old BS again?

1. There were MUCH fewer cars on the road when you were little. Less risk of accidents compared to now.

2. Deadly accidents still happened, but not to you - you have Survivoritis: "I turned out fine, so let's keep everything the way it was!"
Think, PP. If things were safe when you were little, why did they change the laws? Because there were too many deaths.

My son is 9 and I don't require other people to use a booster for him if they are driving him in town (ex. school to sports activity close by). Same thing I don't make his 9 and 10 year old friends use a booster but if a parent drops one off for their kid I will use it. I do make 8 year olds use a booster. Risk is relative. I remember riding in the back of station wagons without being belted all through elementary school. Cars are now safer and everyone uses seatbelts with a shoulder strap.

Everyone in my car gets a booster, because I refuse to drive them if they don't. They are all elementary schoolers, and while one of them is tall enough not to require one, the blanket rule is best.

There's a lot of incorrect info on this thread. The law requires boosters until age 8, but the recommendation is to use them until the child is 4'9", Very few 8 year olds are that height. I do try it require them but get a lot of pushback from the 4th graders I drive. I tell them that I follow the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics. I think my child, who is slightly above average height, will hit that height around age 11, so probably in 5th grade. I guess if I was driving middle school kids and there was a very short one, I wouldn't make them sit in a booster if no one else was, though. But it's ridiculous to me that all these 4th graders insist they are too old for boosters---some of them are shorter than my first grader and none of them are above the recommended height.

My children are 8 and almost 11 (but small for her age). They use boosters in all cars. Neither passes the 5 step test. Every child who rides in my car wears a booster if I don't like the way the seatbelt fits without one. When I am driving, I am responsible for the safety of everyone in my car.

My son and his friends are 8. None of their parents have asked me to use a booster and I don't ask them when they pick up my son. I would use one if someone asked but they would need to provide it. Yes, DS passes the seat belt test in my car and most of his friends are his height or taller.

The law is age eight.

11-12 is fifth to seventh grade. Most fifth to seventh graders are too tall to use a booster, not to mention a booster would put them too high for the seatbelts.

I don't know of any upper elementary kids who use or even own a booster anymore.

I provide seats. Get some incognito's.

For kids under 8, I think it's totally reasonable to make the kids use it, especially since it's the law in most places. But for older kids, are you really doing the five point test on each kid in your car? Because the safety factor isn't just about height.
http://www.carseat.org/Boosters/630.htm

Generally, in almost all parenting matters, I defer to the parents to be the ones to make the safety decisions.

Are you providing the boosters, or are you expecting the parents to provide them?

Your car, your rules. If the child questions you just say in my car children use a booster. If the parent questions you state the law.

?

I require a booster for anyone shorter than my kid, who is 4'9"

does anyone require boosters over age 8 in a carpool situation? we don't want to be unreasonable but some of these kids definitely need them and i feel a flat rule that everyone rides in one is easier.