Yup, there's a reason why little kids aren't allowed on adult carnival rides that fling them about at various speeds and smack 'em into barriers. The rides aren't made for little kids- that's obvious. There's also a reason why carnivals have rules for this and do not leave the decision to parents and care providers. So, I was driving home from the farmer's market on Saturday and there was a big SUV approaching in the other lane. In their front passenger seat I could see a tiny head just poking above the dash. Couldn't see most of the kid attached to that head because they were hidden below. Couldn't see the shoulder belt because, well, it's designed for an adult so it was behind the kid. This ain't no carnival ride. It's variable speed ride being operated by a human within a highly unpredictable and unforgiving traffic environment.
When the crash happens, kid will be beset by a variety of violent forces. One will obviously be the airbag that is meant to spread crash forces over an adult human. Instead it will be crashing into a small human whose unrestrained head and torso will slam into it in ways the bag as never designed to respond to. It's like asking a kid to catch a screaming line drive hardball without a glove.
The other violent force that kid will be dealing with will be that lap belt that, prior to the crash, was positioned very nicely right across his tummy filled with all of those nice squishy organs. During the crash that tummy and those organs will be wrapped around the lap belt as it pulls through the squishy parts on it's way to contacting and stretching the spinal cord. Have a look at the toothpaste tube photo at the top of the page and imagine that. This is of course assuming that kid doesn't just slip right out from under the adult lap belt and get flung out onto the road when the vehicle flips over.
Now, I'm sure that the person driving the SUV is delighted to have their small child/grandchild sitting right up next to them in the front. It's probably right where kid asked to be, and we all want kid to be happy. And, of course, they're just driving to town.
Here's the law in the physical world: A child's body parts are not developed enough to cope well with crash forces in the front seat of a vehicle until they are at least 13 years old. They just aren't. The law in Michigan may say the kids 4+ years old can sit in the front seat, but, like the carnival ride, they just aren't developed enough to ride there safely.
Here's the other law in the physical world: Seatbelts do not normally fit humans until they are at least 4' 9" tall and weigh about 80 pounds. Until a human is that size, the seatbelt just does not normally fit. A good fitting and properly used booster seat places the lap belt low in the child's hips and shoulder belt across the chest in the proper location. In Michigan that's the law until the child is 8 or 4' 9". But, guess what- in a crash, the laws of the physical world trump the laws of any state until the person actually fits in that belt.
Children 4 - 8 who ride in boosters are 45 percent less likely to sustain injuries in crashes than children restrained by belts alone. If you could reduce a child's chance of getting the flu by 45 percent by doing something just as simple as using a booster seat, most people would consider that a pretty easy rule in their family.
So, beware treating kids like the toothpaste tube. Fortunately, booster seat manufacturers are getting much better at making these valuable safety devices. Next time I'll cover how to choose one.
Be safe.
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