Posted on 03/23/2011 9:07:04 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Federal safety bureaucrats want kids tied up and enclosed “for as long as possible” when traveling by automobile. The new child car-seat guidelines handed down Monday by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) expand applicability of nanny-state suggestions to cover adolescents up to age 12.
Although not binding, the NHTSA rules will be used to influence state lawmakers who impose booster and car-seat requirements on children up to 8 years old. In Nevada, penalties for noncompliance with seating dictates run as high as $500. That makes this big business, but not just for the ticket-writing industry. Manufacturers sold a whopping $371 million worth of child car seats in 2007.
It’s worth asking whether that money is well spent. NHTSA’s latest work is based in large part upon input from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), which released a new study on Monday. The proposal for having 12-year-olds in booster seats was based on prior work that came with a caution from AAP: “It is important to note that this study is nearly 20 years old, and significant changes have been made to the vehicle fleet during this time.”
For children over the age of two, “The recommendation for forward-facing (child safety seats) has been based, in part, on an analysis by Kahane of laboratory sled tests, observational studies and police-reported crash data from the early 1980s,” the AAP report stated. The Kahane study was conducted in 1986 for NHTSA, completing the circle of reasoning.
The AAP report also noted that failure to properly secure a kiddy seat can actually increase the risk of injury to young occupants. This is apparently no easy task...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Grandma gave me the belt a couple of times. Actually, she made me give her mine. “Give me your belt.” Yikes! But anyway.
The infantilization of the West rages on!
A bunch of us old ‘uns never even wore seat belts and look how we turned out.
I was really hoping to see a video of Obama in a cage match with three ten-year-olds, “belting” them in the mouth. Color me disappointed.
There was a report the other night about car seats facing the rear instead of the front. This made me wonder if those who thought this was safer ever looked into the effects of riding backwards and motion sickness. And then at the end of the report (they had a little boy demonstrating, poor thing), the reporter noted that sometimes the child’s legs were a little too long but that they could just scrunch up a bit. Unbelievable!
Today’s featherweight, tiny (but fuel sipping) cars mean more risks to an untethered passenger in a crash than did the old hunks of Detroit steel (specially in the back seat with a generous hunk of front bench seat upholstery to catch you). I do not know why automobile manufacturers don’t come up with some kind of integrated kiddy-seat system that can be swapped out for the “normal” seats.
Yeah, we got “the safety arm” sitting in the front seat when there was a sudden stop.
The very best thing would be a racing-car style harness, but far be it from Washington to endorse anything so sensible. Instead we get clunky hunks of plastic that might end up adding to the mayhem.
So why stop forcing kids to sit in rock-solid boosters at Age 12? They are still minors until Age 18...so keep them in the Booster Seats until then...unless they are large enough not to need them.
Come on TheHood, tell me why it suddenly becomes safe for a small kid to be out of a booster seat at age 12 years plus one day. I’m waiting...............
And if you have more than 2 kids you need a bus.
“the safety arm”
LOL, That brings back memories.
I disagree. Detroit steel was meant to stay intact in a crash, even if the driver was turned into plasma. Today's safety enhancements are saving lives. Airbags, ABS, and crumple zones (reducing crash energy) work. I am an airbag survivor.I was bruised and shaken. Both the police officers on scene and colleagues from work (physicists) upon examination of my car said I was lucky to be alive.
LOL! My 110 pound mom doing that when I was a 150 pound 15 year old.
Nanny State PING!
Just how much money are the booster seat manufacturers handing out to the politicians and bureaucrats, anyway?
Great Point
And, if they are on their parents health insurance until 26, well.....they should be in booster seats until then too./sarc
True — automatic air bags were probably the biggest single boon to crash safety, though their mandatory inclusion has made steering wheels plug-ugly ever since.
Still, not all crashes are frontal and mass matters. Once I skidded in the rain driving a pickup truck and smacked into the back of a Quest that was carrying two teenage girls. Neither one was hurt at all, not even whiplash. The only “crumple zone” was the back tail gate door which cost my insurance company $1500 to fix. (The truck fared worse, believe it or not.) Now if that had been an Elantra, whoo boy.
Why stop at the five point harness? Mandate helmets and Hans devices too.....in the racing biz these devices need to be inspected and replaced every few years - it's all dated material - think of the revenue.......
An in cabin fire suppressant system would be helpful too..../s
Grandma..gave me the switch..from a tree in her back yard..after.. she would take me to her kitchen..made me sit and watch her can her peaches she gathered from the neighbors trees..
Loved those summers..in Knoxville.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.