Safety Seats for trucks?...
- Thread starter FooserX
- Start date
<r><QUOTE author="FooserX;52324"><s>
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Why isn't he in a car seat/booster? He's too young to be riding without one. Child passenger safety experts recommend kids stay in harnessed car seats until at least 4 yrs. and 40 lbs.. Longer is even better, especially if a child is wiggly and not able to sit properly in a belt positioning booster. Kids are safest in boosters until at least 4'9" tall and can pass the 5 Step Test.<br/>
<URL url="</s>Boosters Are For Big Kids<e></e></URL><br/>
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Taken from <URL url="http://www.carseat.org"><s></s>SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A. Safe Ride Helpline<e></e></URL> in the FAQ section.<br/>
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<B><s></s><FONT font="Arial"><s></s><COLOR color="blue"><s></s>Can I put my child in the front seat of a pickup truck?<e></e></COLOR><e></SIZE></e></SIZE><e>[/FONT]</e></FONT><e></e></B><br/>
<FONT font="Arial"><s></s><COLOR color="blue"><s></s>Many pickup trucks have back seats that are too small for child safety seats. Researchers at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia have found that the risk of injury to children riding in the back seat of a compact extended-cab pickup truck is five times higher than when riding in any other vehicle. Injuries appear to be caused by hitting the inside of the pickup. <e></e></COLOR><e></SIZE></e></SIZE><e>[/FONT]</e></FONT><br/>
<FONT font="Arial"><s></s><COLOR color="blue"><s></s>If you have a larger pickup with a back seat that faces the front of the truck, a safety seat may be installed there if the truck’s manual recommends it and at least 80% of the safety seat’s base sits on the truck seat cushion. You can reduce the risk of injury for forward-facing children by tethering the safety seat. Using a top tether can greatly reduce the chance of a child’s head striking the interior of the pickup.<e></e></COLOR><e></SIZE></e></SIZE><e>[/FONT]</e></FONT><br/>
<FONT font="Arial"><s></s><COLOR color="blue"><s></s>Installation of a safety seat on a side-facing jump seat is not allowed by any child restraint manufacturer.<e></e></COLOR><e></SIZE></e></SIZE><e>[/FONT]</e></FONT><br/>
<FONT font="Arial"><s></s><COLOR color="blue"><s></s>If you must install a safety seat in the front seat of a pickup truck, disable the air bag by using the air bag on-off switch. If an on-off switch is not available, you may ask NHTSA to let you have one installed. Until a switch can be installed, do not transport a rear-facing child in the front seat. Some passenger air bags will expand to cover the center seating position, so installing a safety seat in that location may be dangerous to your child. Check the vehicle owner’s manual to find out where child safety seats may be installed. Installing a safety seat in the front seat of any vehicle increases the risk of death to your child by more than 30%, so a pickup truck without a back seat is not the safest choice for transporting a child.<e></e></COLOR><e></SIZE></e></SIZE><e>[/FONT]</e></FONT></r>
</e></QUOTE>FooserX said:
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Why isn't he in a car seat/booster? He's too young to be riding without one. Child passenger safety experts recommend kids stay in harnessed car seats until at least 4 yrs. and 40 lbs.. Longer is even better, especially if a child is wiggly and not able to sit properly in a belt positioning booster. Kids are safest in boosters until at least 4'9" tall and can pass the 5 Step Test.<br/>
<URL url="</s>Boosters Are For Big Kids<e></e></URL><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
Taken from <URL url="http://www.carseat.org"><s></s>SafetyBeltSafe U.S.A. Safe Ride Helpline<e></e></URL> in the FAQ section.<br/>
<br/>
<B><s></s><FONT font="Arial"><s></s><COLOR color="blue"><s></s>Can I put my child in the front seat of a pickup truck?<e></e></COLOR><e></SIZE></e></SIZE><e>[/FONT]</e></FONT><e></e></B><br/>
<FONT font="Arial"><s></s><COLOR color="blue"><s></s>Many pickup trucks have back seats that are too small for child safety seats. Researchers at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia have found that the risk of injury to children riding in the back seat of a compact extended-cab pickup truck is five times higher than when riding in any other vehicle. Injuries appear to be caused by hitting the inside of the pickup. <e></e></COLOR><e></SIZE></e></SIZE><e>[/FONT]</e></FONT><br/>
<FONT font="Arial"><s></s><COLOR color="blue"><s></s>If you have a larger pickup with a back seat that faces the front of the truck, a safety seat may be installed there if the truck’s manual recommends it and at least 80% of the safety seat’s base sits on the truck seat cushion. You can reduce the risk of injury for forward-facing children by tethering the safety seat. Using a top tether can greatly reduce the chance of a child’s head striking the interior of the pickup.<e></e></COLOR><e></SIZE></e></SIZE><e>[/FONT]</e></FONT><br/>
<FONT font="Arial"><s></s><COLOR color="blue"><s></s>Installation of a safety seat on a side-facing jump seat is not allowed by any child restraint manufacturer.<e></e></COLOR><e></SIZE></e></SIZE><e>[/FONT]</e></FONT><br/>
<FONT font="Arial"><s></s><COLOR color="blue"><s></s>If you must install a safety seat in the front seat of a pickup truck, disable the air bag by using the air bag on-off switch. If an on-off switch is not available, you may ask NHTSA to let you have one installed. Until a switch can be installed, do not transport a rear-facing child in the front seat. Some passenger air bags will expand to cover the center seating position, so installing a safety seat in that location may be dangerous to your child. Check the vehicle owner’s manual to find out where child safety seats may be installed. Installing a safety seat in the front seat of any vehicle increases the risk of death to your child by more than 30%, so a pickup truck without a back seat is not the safest choice for transporting a child.<e></e></COLOR><e></SIZE></e></SIZE><e>[/FONT]</e></FONT></r>
LOL! I can't help it. Even though my CPS Tech certification expired this week.Kaytee said:
Colorado child restraint laws:
younger than 1 year and less than 20 pounds in a rear-facing infant seat; 1 through 3 years and 20-40 pounds in a forward-facing child safety seat; 4 through 5 years and less than 55 inches in a booster seat
Doesn't quite match the current recommendations, but not bad.
A video: <I>Car Safety for your 4-8 Year Old </I>pcps_shell
To find a Child Passenger Safety Tech in your area:
Home | SeatCheck.org
My DS (Gr.6) just graduated out of a booster about 3 mos. ago. My DD, who is turning 10 next month, is still in a booster and will be for a long time yet. She's only 4'2" and 50 lbs.. Definitely a peanut for her age. She doesn't meet the current recommendations, and also can't legally ride without one in our state. (In CT they must be over 7 <I>and </I>over 60 lbs. to legally ride without a booster.) The seat belt does NOT fit her correctly without a booster, which would be very dangerous in the event of a crash.
I just got a Graco booster for my "bushwacker" vehicle, getting to camps, lakes, backroads etc. The vehicle is a '96 Ford Taurus...I'd like her to be in the middle, but there is no shoulder strap in the middle seat. That means I have to have her in driver's side or passenger side right?...I don't mind buying another one with it's own straps...what should I do here?
Music-dad said:
You're correct. A belt positioning booster requires both a lap and shoulder belt, so if a vehicle only has a lap belt in the center position, that's not a safe option. How much does your DD weigh? Is she tall for her age? You can either use the booster in an outboard position or buy a car seat that harnesses past 40 lbs. to use in the center, provided it installs well there. Unfortunately, there aren't many options in Canada. I know the Britax Marathon and the Radian 65 are available in Canada. Both harness up to 65 lbs.. Also, combination car seats in Canada, like the Graco Cargo, harness up to 48 lbs.. (The US Graco Cargo only harnesses up to 40 lbs.)
Sometimes the hump in the center, or just the way the seat is molded makes it impossible to install a car seat tightly/correctly. In some cases, it could be the car seat itself that's incompatible with the car. You can look up different vehicle and car seat scenarios at CarSeatData.org - user ratings of carseats fitting into cars in the Compatibility Database.Kaytee said: