With all the information out there about the importance of booster seats and their power to save the lives of children, some parents shockingly still don't use them. Especially parents who carpool it seems.
A new study from the University of Michigan found that while most use them when they're driving their own kids, 30 percent of parents don't require their kids ages 4-8 to be in a booster seat when they ride with someone else. Not only that, they found that 45 percent of parents don't make their own kids get in booster seats when they have other children in their own car without booster seats.
Are you kidding me? Who are these people?
Okay, I may be one of them once in awhile, and I'm not proud of it. Not for my 3-year-old ever -- she's still in a five-point harness car seat. But once my son moved into the booster seat and through preschool, I started getting more lax. He's 8 now, but not 4' 9'' tall (national guidelines suggest children be both) and MOST of the times he's in a booster. But I admit there has been more than one time over the years that I let him ride without a booster, and just as this study suggests -- it has almost always been in a carpool situation.
More from The Stir: 9 Lifesaving Car Seat Rules You're Probably Ignoring
More times than not, it has been me telling my son to give up his booster seat to whatever kid I'm toting in my car, because I feel so much responsibility when I have someone else's child in my care. But sometimes I let him go with someone else who doesn't have a booster seat when I could easily get mine from the car because ... I'm not sure why. I'm lazy? It's inconvenient? I don't want to be that mom who won't let him go have fun because someone doesn't have an extra booster seat?
Whatever the reason, it's not okay. I know we all rolled around on the floor while our parents drove and we turned out fine, but that doesn't mean we can't do better for our kids and make them safer. And if that's not reason enough, it's also illegal in many states for children under 8 to ride in a car without a booster seat.
This study should serve as a good wake-up call for us all to review the laws in our individual states and those guidelines issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics and make sure that we're following them ALL the time. As busy as we all are, we should still always make time to put what's important first, because it only takes an extra minute to make sure our kids are in the right type of seat, and just once for life to change forever if we don't.
More from The Stir:
New Car Seat Rules Mean You May Be Doing It Wrong
Proof That Older & Taller Kids Can Still Rear-Face in Car Seats (PHOTOS)
Do you find yourself disregarding booster seat rules when it comes to carpooling?
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Comments 32
I feel ya... While have NEVER let my kid (and I have 3 daughters) ride without a seat, I TOTALLY understand what you are saying. ;-) My oldest is now big enough to ride sans seat, THANK GOD, but I still use a seat belt adjuster!
I never, ever let my kids ride unrestrained. Both of them (ages 3 and 5.5) are still in 5-point harnesses. I don't do carpool, but if I did I'd insist that every kid was in a booster. If the parents wouldn't provide one, I'd buy an extra for my car or I'd refuse to transport that kid. I'd be beyond furious if another parent didn't properly restrain my kid. There's just no excuse for it.
I see kids leave school every day without being in safety seats. I live in a rural area I'm not used to, but I assume the chance of death in a crash is the same in the city and the country. I dont understand where this becomes something people take lightly!
My six year old is still in a five point harness and will be till he's too big. I don't mind him using a booster, one with a back, but he isn't big enough for a backless booster yet.
I don't carpool but any child getting in my vehicle will be in the proper restraints. I've even been offered a ride during an excessive heat wave and wouldn't take it because I didn't have the proper car seat and booster seat for my kids. Unfortunately, though, many parents I've seen at my SS's school show little regard to the booster law. I see kids under 8 who are not only not sitting in boosters, but are also sitting in the front seat.