Child Booster Seats

[fossyant]

OK, not bike related but.......

It really gets on my nerves the number of folk who don't use boosters for their kids, despite it being law for a kid under 135cm or aged 12....FFS it's been law for two years....

My son is 7 and is about 122cm (smallish) but only a few of the bigger kids are 135cm.

Both of our cars have a high back on the rear seat - so you need the booster (seat and back) to bring down the seat belt to the correct level - i.e. not neck damaging height.

So many parent's ignore this...most of my son's class do......., and a poorly fitting seat belt is almost as bad as not having one.... Why for the sake of a few quid....

 

[Maz]

my wife got a severe bolloking off plod for not having a booster seat for our son (fair do's, we'd left in the other car) whilst the other WPC was laughing. Mixed messages or what!

 

[fossyant]

Yeh but you do have one...I have gone out, with kids in my car, only locally, when my missus has been out with the seats in hers.... but the law allows for that bit of it - it's the don't have one full stop........and the kids themselves think it's daft to have a booster.

When you see how high up the seat belt is in our cars, you soon see why a proper booster is necessary - there have been a few explanations with my son as to why he has to have one, and his mates don't...... - usually look where the seat belt sits on your body etc and why it would not work properly... he accepts that though !

 

[fossyant]

Not many it appears !

 

[summerdays]

Part of the problem comes from the fact it is a new law. My very small 11 yo (well 9 when the law came out) refused to go back to sitting on one, and we heaved a sigh of relief when she was finally tall enough this year that we weren't supposed to have one. However I will keep it going for our 7 yo as he hasn't known any different. And when we went to NI last week my aunt managed to find one to borrow for us which was appreciated.

And then compare it to what we had for our first child ... when she reached 3 yo you didn't have to have one (I think) although we kept her in one until she was about 5 IIRC.

That said its the parents who don't bother with seat belts at all that really get me mad!.

 

[Night Train]

I don't have any kids but I still have a booster seat for when I have to carry friends' kids around.

 

[Willow]

My 11 yr old is 5ft 5 (size 9.5 adult size shoe consequently he has been out of a booster seat for quite some time. I have to say I took him off the booster seat quite early partly because of his height but also because I found if he fidgeted in the car he could easily slip behind the booster seat and I felt he was safer strapped directly onto the proper seat. That being said I did purchase a seat belt adjuster to make sure the belt was at the right height. Obviously the law had not come in at this stage but he certainly would have objected if he had to then go back to using one.

I am more worried about the number of children with no belts, standing up in the car head through open roof or out of window, parents smoking or using mobile phone while driving but I do accept your point. I consider I have precious cargo on board when driving with the children