# New booster seat requirements in WV



## veggiemomma (Oct 21, 2004)

Okay, first, I want to preface this by saying that I AGREE with the new law.

It states that a child must be 4'9" before they can ride in a car WITHOUT a booster seat. My aunt, who is 52 yo, is 4'10"







I am wondering if I should buy her a booster seat for her birthday! I think I was probably about 11 yo before I was 4'9"

My dd is really low on the height scale. I can just imagine her climbing into her booster seat when she is 13!









Excuse my silliness, it's been a long week.


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## dubfam (Nov 4, 2005)

I think that those laws usually have an age limit as well-to take shorter adults into account.

Imagine having to ride to jr high school in a car seat















How is that for embarrassing! I would have been MORTIFIED


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## Sharlla (Jul 14, 2005)

My grandma always sat on a thick cushion. She was (I'm sure she is shorter now) 4'11 and she didn't like having the seatbelt go across her neck. What's the point of wearing a seatbelt if you are wearing it improperly and it injures you? Booster seats are a tool, they are not just for children. My son is 8 and 3'11 and he will be sitting on his booster for quite awhile still.


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## ThreeBeans (Dec 2, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *dubfam* 
I think that those laws usually have an age limit as well-to take shorter adults into account.

Imagine having to ride to jr high school in a car seat
















How is that for embarrassing! I would have been MORTIFIED

If my 12 year old is too short to sit alone without a booster, she'll be in a booster. Backless, but she'll still be in one. Imagine having to DIE IN A CAR ACCIDENT in junior high because you weren't in a booster.


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## veggiemomma (Oct 21, 2004)

People, this was supposed to be silly. Could we lighten up just a shade? Please don't turn it into a national Mommy War.







: I already said I supported the law.

Come on, admit it...a 12 yo in a booster seat would be embarrassed.


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## keriberry (May 27, 2007)

Yes, there may be some embarrasment for the high school set, but if they don't fit the belt properly, what else can you do?


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## ThreeBeans (Dec 2, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *veggiemomma* 
People, this was supposed to be silly. Could we lighten up just a shade? Please don't turn it into a national Mommy War.







: I already said I supported the law.

Come on, admit it...a 12 yo in a booster seat would be embarrassed.

Not if this was the social norm...that people who need boosters ride in them. The reason that it isn't a social norm? Because PARENTS decide it's embarassing.


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## hipmummy (May 25, 2007)

OP so true my aunt is 4"10 and my grandmother has shrunk to 4"8" I have a pic of her using the Graco. I should take a digital image and post it.


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## Yooper (Jun 6, 2003)

My current vehicle has adjustable seatbelt heights but one of the vehicles we had before that (Ford Explorer) had front seat belts that cut across my neck and I am 5' 8"! If a booster would have made me more comfortable and safer, I would not be at all embarrassed to use it. At 12 though? Yes, I would have been embarrassed. But not if it was the norm. We can make it the norm to demand safe car restraints.....be it boosters or adjustable seat belts. There is nothing funny about how many people are killed in car accidents. It is the biggest danger I ever put myself or my family in, riding in a car, that is. I let my dd jump on the couch, play alone in the back yard, go camping, and all of the other horrors parents beat each other up around here over. Making our car time safer would go a lot further to protect my family.


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## veggiemomma (Oct 21, 2004)

**throwing hands up in the air**

Okay, yes, of course you are correct. There is nothing funny about people being killed in auto accidents. And yes, we should make the world a safer place by all sitting in booster seats. I am in complete agreement.

**sighs and walks away**


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## veggiemomma (Oct 21, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ThreeBeans* 
Not if this was the social norm...that people who need boosters ride in them. The reason that it isn't a social norm? Because PARENTS decide it's embarassing.

**returns to add** Please don't tag me for causing all the social injustice in the world. I don't want to play the game. I was just posting about how my family is short.


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## Momily (Feb 15, 2007)

What if your child is over 100 lbs at 4'9" -- are there seats that would fit him?


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## ThreeBeans (Dec 2, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Momily* 
What if your child is over 100 lbs at 4'9" -- are there seats that would fit him?

Britax has recently started not including an upper weight limit on their boosters, which is awesome. The Monarch would be a good choice as it is fairly wide and also converts to a backless.


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## ashleyhaugh (Jun 23, 2005)

my sis had a friend who was in a booster til her first day of 9th grade- she was a tiny little thing, and thats when she hit 4'9"

my grammy sits on a cushion too, she was 4'11" at her tallest, and at 86 shes quite a bit shorter than that now







:


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## LilyGrace (Jun 10, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *dubfam* 
Imagine having to ride to jr high school in a car seat















How is that for embarrassing! I would have been MORTIFIED


Why? I did it, and I wasn't mortified. Going into 6th grade wearing about a size 6x-7, I needed the extra protection. I learned to develop a "stuff it!" attitude with idiots who had a problem with it.


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## Papooses (Dec 20, 2006)

Not trying to be snarky at all, but I'm honestly confused why ThreeBeans is exhasperating you so??? Seriously ... it just is not a game of any sort







@ *5'4"* I have in fact used boosters (Eddie Bauer Cubb + backless Safety 1st Intera) on occasion -- otherwise this is how I fit the backseat of our 1997 Honda Civic HX:

Lapbelt above my hipbone
Lapbelt at my naval
Shoulder belt on my neck
All the kids who ride in my car receive _safest practice_ regardless of age or they find another form of transporation simply because I'm not willing to face the ultimate emotional repurcussion of that person suffering permanent disabling injury or death (embarrassment pales in comparison).

I agree with you to a degree, but my line is drawn at a different point. If the person does not pass the 5 Step Test they have the choice to use a booster or an EZOn harness. They get to choose which is less embarrassing based after being informed as to the risk of becoming a "vegetable" without either (which most easily consider more embarrassing than a booster or harness).


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## veggiemomma (Oct 21, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *veggiemomma* 
Okay, first, I want to preface this by saying that I AGREE with the new law.



Here is what is exhasperating: this is the third time I have reaffirmed that I agree with the law. But I still have to read that my parenting skills (or lack thereof according to threebeans) is causing some sort of social upheavel regarding old people using booster seats. And I have to read about how car accidents are serious and people die or get seriously injured in car accidents all the time. I am so glad someone told me, otherwise I never would have known that.







: I am also glad that kids who ride in your car recieve the safest practice that there is. I often let mine run around in the car holding sharp knives.







:







Just kidding.

So, I guess you guys are saying that I SHOULD buy my aunt a booster seat for her birthday.


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## Papooses (Dec 20, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *veggiemomma* 
But I still have to read that my parenting skills ... is causing some sort of social upheavel

I'm sorry, but short of someone holding a gun against one's head, no one ever HAS to do anything







You are free to read or ignore & you are free to interpret in any way you choose







I don't see anything here that says anything accusatory about _your_ parenting skills -- I see generalizations being made about any/all parents because the FACT is only 5% of kids are properly restrained







Social upheaval? That's just unnecessarily dramatic









& well, yeah, if your aunt doesn't pass the 5 Step Test, then I personally would educate her on the importance of using an acceptable product to lift her up into fitting the seatbelt properly, at least when in my vehicle


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## treqi (Dec 31, 2006)

I love being tall







: I think there should be an age say 16 where the child can choose to follow that rule or not I really think kids in school can be harsh..... but thats not the popular thinking around here so







:


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