Car-seats to be mandatory for older kids in Ontario

[Taualumna]

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...l=968705899037

I never understood the age limit thing. The article indicates that all kids under 4'10 and 80 lb who are under 8 years old must be in a seat. OK, but what about 10 year olds who are smaller than that (which are a good number of 10 year olds)? Why is it ok for a 10 year old who is, say, 4'9 and 75 lb to be in a regular seat, but not a 7 year old of that size? If you were to actually regulate using that height and weight only, I would have been in a booster seat until I was almost 12 (I was approximately 4'10 and 85 lb on my 12th birthday).

[_Lisa_]

Maybe it has to do w/ the development of your bone structure or something...? The older you are the more "structurally sound" your body is in case of a car wreck?

I really don't know what the reason is for the age limit & I'm (obviously) not a doctor, but its all I can come up with!

[Lady Pi Phi]

I don't think age should be a factor in this at all.
If this is really for safety's sake, then it should completely go by height and weight. If you're too small to have a seat belt protect you properly then you should be in some kind of booster seat. I know it's horribly embarressing for the little 13 year old that's too small to be protected properly by a seat belt, but safety is saftey.

Now I don't see how booster seats really protect children, so maybe what they should do is redesign the seat belt.

[Taualumna]

Well, smaller older kids can use a cushion, I guess (especially if they're old enough to be in the front). I used one when I was taking driving lessons with my first instructor. My second instructor's car had adjustable seating in the front (he had lots of Asian clients, and many of the women are under 5'), so I didn't have to worry about that.

ETA: They should also do something about school buses. Lots of kids get hurt on those, since there aren't any seatbelts.