Anonymous wrote:My 6 year old rides shotgun on the way to school every morning, its like 20 minutes driving through DC. Pretty hard to get in a serious accident when your only going 25 mph the whole way. He hates to sit in the back and the only time he does is when me and Dh are both in the front.

Oh man. You are ignorant about motor vehicle crashes and parenting.

12

I have 4 kids, and right now two of them are older than 12, and two of them are younger than 12. They don't even ask to sit in front--even the older ones. I have no idea why, but they prefer to sit in the back.

I thought riders had to be at least 13 to sit in front seat?

One was 11 and physically as big as I am, and the other was 12.

Anonymous wrote:My 6 year old rides shotgun on the way to school every morning, its like 20 minutes driving through DC. Pretty hard to get in a serious accident when your only going 25 mph the whole way. He hates to sit in the back and the only time he does is when me and Dh are both in the front.

You are doing a great job at raising a spoiled brat!

My 11 year old is 5'3 and he sits in the back. It's not up for discussion and he knows it. Maybe next year but no sooner. It's not worth the risk.

13

Anonymous wrote:heh, my son is only 11, but I bet if I were to offer him the front seat, he'd decline. He'd rather sit by his sister than his mom!

We have a minivan and my 12yr old prefers the backseat anyway. I don't bother her and she can lounge and listen to her iPod.

Age 13, per NHTSA, AAP, Consumer Reports, etc.

heh, my son is only 11, but I bet if I were to offer him the front seat, he'd decline. He'd rather sit by his sister than his mom!

Anonymous wrote:My 6 year old rides shotgun on the way to school every morning, its like 20 minutes driving through DC. Pretty hard to get in a serious accident when your only going 25 mph the whole way. He hates to sit in the back and the only time he does is when me and Dh are both in the front.

Epic parenting fail.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:13, per ped recommendation

+1

+2

Anonymous wrote:My 6 year old rides shotgun on the way to school every morning, its like 20 minutes driving through DC. Pretty hard to get in a serious accident when your only going 25 mph the whole way. He hates to sit in the back and the only time he does is when me and Dh are both in the front.

I truly hope this is sarcasm. You can't be serious?

13yrs old and not a day earlier. It is what the APA recommends and knowing that the passenger seat is called the "death seat" for a reason.

I see it like this. It is fun to sit up front but if you are in a bad accident, where do you want your child to be? I would never forgive myself if I wanted my kids to think I was cool and caved on the front seat issue and cause them harm. My job is to parent, not to be a friend.

I have 4 kids and so far the 14yr old is the only one in the front seat. She was 5ft by 11 but it didn't matter to me.

11 and most of his friends started at 10