Car seat hysteria?

[mrsltg]

Wow! I can top everybody --- Dad used to be a long distance trucker. He would let me (then 4) sit on his lap and steer an 18 wheeler!!! Of course I now realize his knees were steadying the wheel but COME ON!!!! This is what we call BRILLIANT !

Ahh the good old days!

I'm a big believer in safety but I do love to stump the carseat nazis. I love to stir the "carseat on the airplane" threads by saying, "I hope you're renting a car when you get to WDW. You can't possibly consider using WDW transportation as it is completely unsafe for a child." The point is the level of risk you are comfortable with. I am comfortable with a toddler on a plan minus the carseat. I am not comfortable driving the highways without one for the most part. I have, however, taken taxis and held my breath because I had to. I wasn't willing to stand somewhere and start life all over again simply because my only option was cab and no carseat.

It's all a matter of comfort. What is acceptable risk and what's not is individual.

 

[disneysteve]

Our busses have belts too...BUT the kids are NOT allowed to use them!

Surely some sane parents have protested this policy, right?

 

[Nancy]

Surely some sane parents have protested this policy, right?

Yep...did no good. I told my daughters that they were to put them on no matter what, so after the bus was moving they would strap in. The driver actually told me they would prefer that they don't do that. In the event of an accident they might not be able to get themselves out and if she was knocked out who would help them? My response was: "If they know how to buckle them, they know how to unbuckle them" My kids haven't been on the bus for a few years now, I don't know if things are different now.

 

[mickeyboat]

There are belts on our kids' bus, and they are required to use them.

We have the 8 year/80 pound rule here, too. And I fully intend to abide by it. A booster is really no problem, we have a set for my van, DH's truck and FIL's van. They're cheap. The kids don't complain about them. No big deal.

Now, if we were in a situation where there was no available booster, I wouldn't pitch a fit. I would just buckle them in and keep them as safe as I could.

Denae

 

[scarlett873]

I remember sitting on my Dad's lap while he let me steer the car.

Heck...I can top that one! My dad's car had this great big steering wheel. (I have no idea what kind of car it was) I would sit in the steering wheel WHILE he drove!!

Though---they are no more in danger on Magical Express than mom and dad are.

And I am SORRY---but how is ME any different from the WDW busses??? Just b/c it is on Disney propery doesn't make it any more or less safe. Those busses can get up to 45-50 mph depending on where they are traveling.

The hysteria over ME busses and car seats is rediculous. What exactly do they plan on doing when it is time to take the bus to EPCOT?

I was thinking the very same thing earlier on in this thread!

 

[mom2boys]

My brother & I would switch off between laying on the back seat & laying on the rear window ledge. Since I was smaller, I usually ended up in the window which was fine by me.
When the family up-graded to a station wagon, I sat in the rear cargo area - sometimes slept there.
Went to the beach with a friend for the weekend. Her mom drove my friend, me, her sister, sister's friend and4 little brothers three hours each way - across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, no less. They had a van but the mom was afraid to drive it on the Bay Bridge so we took a 4 door sedan - 9 of us. The sister & her friend rode up front with the mom. My friend, I & the smaller two brothers sat on the back seat & the other two brothers rode in the floor the whole way - they were probably 12 (twins). That was the late 70s.

Now there are laws and by law my 12 yr old just passed the weight limit to be removed from a booster seat - it's 80lbs. Now I had no intention of dropping him at the MIDDLE SCHOOL in a booster seat. I would have beat him up myself.

 

[golfgal]

There are belts on our kids' bus, and they are required to use them.

We have the 8 year/80 pound rule here, too. And I fully intend to abide by it. A booster is really no problem, we have a set for my van, DH's truck and FIL's van. They're cheap. The kids don't complain about them. No big deal.

Now, if we were in a situation where there was no available booster, I wouldn't pitch a fit. I would just buckle them in and keep them as safe as I could.

Denae

The thing with the 8/80 rule is very few 8 year olds are even close to 80 pounds and just because you are 8 doesn't mean you fit a regular seat belt, same with 80 lbs. The guidelines should be set more for height and how the seat belt fits vs how old you are or how much you weigh. None of my kids are 80 pounds yet, including my 8th grader, but they are tall enough, barely, for a regular seat belt. Also, most of these new recommendations came AFTER my kids were already out of booster seats.

One solution to this issue would be for car manufacturers to install adjustable seat belts in the back seats like they have in the front seats. If a child could adjust the seat belt to lay properly on their shoulder, they wouldn't need a booster seat.

As for car seats on airplanes, think about those for a minute, are they REALLY going to offer ANY protection in an airplane crash? No, sorry, they aren't going to help at all.

 

[DVC Sadie]

Yes, I too miss those family roadtrips where I just piled in, pillows, blankets and all and slept the whole way. Those were the days!

Yep,ITA. I am old now (51) but I remember going to California from New Orleans riding in the back seat in my pj's. My parents would get up about 5 am and carry me to the car and I would sleep until 9 am then get dressed in the car. Simply the best!!

 

[mickeyboat]

The thing with the 8/80 rule is very few 8 year olds are even close to 80 pounds and just because you are 8 doesn't mean you fit a regular seat belt, same with 80 lbs. The guidelines should be set more for height and how the seat belt fits vs how old you are or how much you weigh. None of my kids are 80 pounds yet, including my 8th grader, but they are tall enough, barely, for a regular seat belt. Also, most of these new recommendations came AFTER my kids were already out of booster seats.

One solution to this issue would be for car manufacturers to install adjustable seat belts in the back seats like they have in the front seats. If a child could adjust the seat belt to lay properly on their shoulder, they wouldn't need a booster seat.

I think in Vermont, a child over the age of 8 does not have to ride in a booster. After that we are to use proper judgement in choosing the best method of restraint for our kids until they are 16 - thereby allowing us to take height and weight into account. I am not sure what the solution would be to deal with an extraordinarily tall child under the age of 8.

http://www.vthighwaysafety.com/child_safe.htm#13

I have linked the Governor's Safety website.

Yes - adjustable seat belts! That's the perfect solution, and I can't imagine it would cost car manufaturerers that much.

Denae

 

[stm61]

former school bus driver here. I hate to tell you, but if you think your kids are actually wearing those seat belts, they're not. Our district "requires" them to use them. What actually happens is the younger ones, 2nd gr and under, will use them. The older kids usually won't. Even if the driver waits and watches as each kid gets on the bus and buckles in, those belts are off as soon as the bus moves. There is no way the driver can moniter who has them on while they're trying to drive. The belts are actually more of a hazard with the older kids, the kids can swing them around.

 

[DisneyPhD]

I'm a big believer in safety but I do love to stump the carseat nazis. I love to stir the "carseat on the airplane" threads by saying, "I hope you're renting a car when you get to WDW. You can't possibly consider using WDW transportation as it is completely unsafe for a child." The point is the level of risk you are comfortable with. I am comfortable with a toddler on a plan minus the carseat. I am not comfortable driving the highways without one for the most part. I have, however, taken taxis and held my breath because I had to. I wasn't willing to stand somewhere and start life all over again simply because my only option was cab and no carseat.

It's all a matter of comfort. What is acceptable risk and what's not is individual.

I agree with you. I must admit we fly with out a car seat. I even once ended up letting my almost 3 year old in the back seat of my SIL rental care when we were at WDW. They didn't have a car seat with them, and it was ride in the car out sit outside for a bus in a MAJOR thunderstorm that we later found out a tordando was spoted close by. They had stopped running the busses and we would of been there for 45 min to a hour in that weather. She sat belted in the back seat between myself and SIL and we prayed the whole way. We never even saw another car the whole time. I am NOT proud of it, but I think it was the safe alterntive. Since then I take more careful mesures to be sure we are not with out one.

There was an acident in Detroit yesterday. Dad driving with 4 young kids in the car. There was a 3 year old in no car seat, no seatbelt. He was thrown from the car. When I went to bed they did not expect him to make it. I haven't heard what happened. It is too sad. The father caused the accident by his reckless driving too.

 

[MosMom]

My daughter is 8 1/2 and nowhere near 80lbs but she is tall and sitting in a booster hurts her legs because they stick out further than the seat. She is no longer in a booster and if we get a ticket for it, I will fight it. It is absurd to have blanket regulation on this subject.

When I picked her up from school the other day I saw a woman pulling a "Britney Spears" and was driving away while holding her infant in her lap. My jaw literally dropped open. What a *******!

 

[mickeyboat]

former school bus driver here. I hate to tell you, but if you think your kids are actually wearing those seat belts, they're not. Our district "requires" them to use them. What actually happens is the younger ones, 2nd gr and under, will use them. The older kids usually won't. Even if the driver waits and watches as each kid gets on the bus and buckles in, those belts are off as soon as the bus moves. There is no way the driver can moniter who has them on while they're trying to drive. The belts are actually more of a hazard with the older kids, the kids can swing them around.

Thanks for the info. My girls are in K, and they are definitely wearing them. But I will keep an eye on them when they get older.

Denae

 

[DawnCt1]

WOW, you got the seat for sleeping? I was the kid that was up in the window well, across the speakers back there...older kid got the back seat...youngest got the floor well (that was the rotten spot). I used to hold conversations w/the "mice" that lived in the holes (vents/speakers/?).

3

How did you get the window well. I got the pocket of the VW! Under the back window.

 

[LisaR]

I'm a parent, a doctor and a car seat/seat belt fanatic. I can't comprehend anyone putting convenience or comfort over safety. Two quick stories.

We were on a Disney bus coming home from the parks one nite. A young child, maybe 3 or 4, was seated on the aisle and leaning in against his parent. I guess he was sleeping. Bus goes around a turn and the kid slides right off the seat and crashes on the floor. No serious injury fortunately, but that was just during normal driving, not an accident.

8/21/02 DW and DD were in a bad accident. DD was knocked unconscious and suffered serious facial trauma. But at the trauma center and at Children's Hospital where she was transferred, everyone commended us on having her properly restrained in a booster seat and seatbelt. They said given the type of accident, she probably would have been killed otherwise. The ER doctor even had us consent to have DD's abdomen and pelvis photographed because her bruises showed that she was properly belted in. She said the vast majority of kids that come through the ER are not properly restrained and suffer much more serious injuries as a result.

Sure, I grew up sleeping on the backseat and steering on Dad's lap, but just because we did something years ago, doesn't mean it's still okay to do knowing what we know today. Protect your kids, even if that means putting an 8-year-old in a booster seat or embarrasing them in front of their friends.

I couldn't agree more. Having a DH that has worked in the crash test division at a major car company, I could never compromise my child's safety like so many do.

For those comparing their car experiences then to now, take into consideration that when we were growing up there were far fewer cars on the roadways, the speed limit was much lower and the roads weren't overrun with SUV's, Hummers and trucks of all sizes.

Lisa

 

[mookie]

We were trying to figure this out this weekend, when we wanted to take our dd to the city. (Chicago). We were going to take the train in (no carseat), but once we got into the city, we'd be taking a bunch of cabs to get to where we needed to go. I had no idea how to handle this, not just because of the safety issue, but more the legality of it. If you are in a big city, is it allowable for a toddler (3 yo) to be in a taxi w/o a carseat? Or are you expected to bring your own?

I'm stuill not sure how I feel about this. I know how the Chicago cabbies drive, and it scares me to death sometimes. I don't know how I'd feel putting my little girl in the car with only a seatbelt with some of those drivers. But I guess if that is the only option, and people do it all the time, and it's legal.....

(This is now sounding like a naive question, but we really were stumped on what the protocol is. We ended up driving in to Chicago to avoid the problems and hassle.)

 

[powellrj]

When I was in grade school we use to car pool with the neighbor kids. There were 5 of us plus one of our parents. One week all 6 of us would ride in a VW bug (that was something to see) the next week we would ride in the "benz" ragtop, (that was our favorite because on the ride home we would all sit in the back with the top down and wave like we were in a parade) My mom drove a plain old boring Olds Cutlass, so it wasn't cool at all. This was before they even had seatbelts in cars.

 

[jodifla]

Wow, don't know where you live but the school buses here all have seat belts and the kids must use them! I would have her driven to school if they did not.

There are no seat belts on most Florida school buses, that's for sure.

 

[golfgal]

I couldn't agree more. Having a DH that has worked in the crash test division at a major car company, I could never compromise my child's safety like so many do.

For those comparing their car experiences then to now, take into consideration that when we were growing up there were far fewer cars on the roadways, the speed limit was much lower and the roads weren't overrun with SUV's, Hummers and trucks of all sizes.

Lisa

Actually, the speed limit when I was growing up was HIGHER then it is now, 80 or more on most interstates, 65-70 on most highways. Cars were heavier then too but we did not have the SUV's, etc. Cars now have more safety features like crumple zones, etc, but older cars were a LOT heavier and harder to damage in a crash.

 

[jodifla]

I couldn't agree more. Having a DH that has worked in the crash test division at a major car company, I could never compromise my child's safety like so many do.

For those comparing their car experiences then to now, take into consideration that when we were growing up there were far fewer cars on the roadways, the speed limit was much lower and the roads weren't overrun with SUV's, Hummers and trucks of all sizes.

Lisa

The speed limit wasn't lower when I was a kid...it was faster!