Anonymous wrote:
We are a one-car city family, so we don't drive all that much. My oldest was back seat until 14, partly by his preference because he was used to "his" spot, partly because there are usually 2 adults in the car when we drive somewhere. Now I'm finding that my 15YO is months away from driving and has been in the front see very infrequently and so has very little perspective of the view from the driver's seat. Obviously he'll catch up, but I do a lot of talking through what he should be noticing because I feel like we are making up for lost time and experience.

Our pediatrician recommended the rear center seat (if it has a shoulder harness and an adequate head restraint). He said it's safer and older kids can take notice of driving and traffic mechanics.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Front seat from 8 is fine as long as you can disable the air bag.

So they can slam into the dashboard full speed or potentiall go flying through the windshield or have the windshield crash in on them?

Why are state laws so lenient about front seats? In California, kids have to be 8. I think other states are the same. Sure, there are recommendations from pediatricians and other groups recommending 12, but those are just recommendations. The law is actually quite loose.

Because .. farm workers, trucks, and big families. You can't pass a law that makes it impossible for a large part of your population to get their family to church on Sunday or what not. Laws are drafted to draw a line between what is safest/best and what is practicable/onerous on the population.

Anonymous wrote:I just don’t get the rush to put your kid up front. I mean, what’s the benefit? We know the risks. My 9 yo is still 3 inches away from the height at which a regular seat belt will fit him properly. So he still rides in a booster. What’s the downside to that?

We are a one-car city family, so we don't drive all that much. My oldest was back seat until 14, partly by his preference because he was used to "his" spot, partly because there are usually 2 adults in the car when we drive somewhere. Now I'm finding that my 15YO is months away from driving and has been in the front see very infrequently and so has very little perspective of the view from the driver's seat. Obviously he'll catch up, but I do a lot of talking through what he should be noticing because I feel like we are making up for lost time and experience.

Anonymous wrote:In my state (CA) the child has to be 8 or older. Now, no one I know puts an 8 year old in the front seat, however, I do see a lot of 10/11 year olds. By 13, kids are for sure sitting in the front!

My CA relative drove my 12 YO and was shocked he'd never been in the front seat. But my refused.

The downside, which doesn’t outweigh the upside of properly securing every kid, is that we are driving more bigger cars to accommodate the ever-longer list of requirements. If you can’t put a kid in the front seat, and you ever have to drive a carpool, you have to buy a minivan or three row suv. Look around at the parking lot- suv, suv, minivan, minivan. Standard cars don’t work anymore for people with kids under 12, and it has a real impact on the cars we drive (and the gas we use, etc).

I just don’t get the rush to put your kid up front. I mean, what’s the benefit? We know the risks. My 9 yo is still 3 inches away from the height at which a regular seat belt will fit him properly. So he still rides in a booster. What’s the downside to that?

Anonymous wrote:For those of you who are comparing allowing a 7 or 8 year old to sit in a car seat (in the back) without a booster to being an anti-vaxxer, I challenge you to find any data that supports your position. The only real studies they have on this indicate that for children age 6 and up, seat belts prevent fatalities just as well as booster seats.

http://dmarkanderson.com/Booster_Seats_and_Traffic_Fatalities_7_28_17.pdf

"For children ages
2 through 9, our results generally suggest that booster seats are no more effective at decreasing
the probability of fatality than are child safety seats or standard seat belts."

Generally speaking, people post their “white papers” on their own websites when they haven’t been successful in getting them through the peer review process to get published in a journal. Not the strongest source.