What is the Oklahoma State Law for Car Seats?
Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 at
8:37 pm
My son just turned 3 years old.. And we were wondering, when do we start using the booster seat and seat belt?? I don’t know how much he has to weigh and the how tall he has to be??
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The state law is not the most important thing to consider – rather the laws of physics, which are the same everywhere are most important. And that means your child should stay in a 5 point harness as long as possible. The bare minimum for booster use is 4 years old AND 40lbs (not one or the other – both!), but experts recommend keeping kids harnessed until 5-6 years old. That likely means making sure your child has a seat that will fit her in the harness that long. If its one of the general 40lbs harness seats, it won’t. If its a 3-in-1 Eddie Bauer, Alpha Omega it won’t either. The box may have said up to 80-100lbs, but read the fine print it’ll tell you the harness only goes to 40lbs and then it must be used as a booster. First off,
WHY KEEP THEM HARNESSED:
Compare the following crash tests for your self and see the major difference a harness makes.
Forward facing harness vs. booster: http://www.oeamtc.at/netautor/html_seiten/kisitest_2002/videos/test2002/frontcrash/recarostart.mpg
A lateral test (the third view in) of a harnessed seat: http://www.oeamtc.at/videobox/index.php?domain=oeamtc&videobox=Kindersitze_bis_18_kg_oder_4_Jahre&movie_kind=swf
A deep winged high back booster like a Parkway: http://www.oeamtc.at/netautor/html_seiten/kisitest_2002/videos/test2002/seitencrash/concordliftpro.mpg
A shallow winged high back booster like the Turbobooster: http://www.oeamtc.at/netautor/html_seiten/kisitest_2002/videos/test2002/seitencrash/htsbesafe.mpg
And a no back booster: http://www.oeamtc.at/netautor/html_seiten/kisitest/videos/tests_2001/seitencrash/Baby_Sunny_touring_P3_vorne.mpg
VIEDOES OF KIDS WHOSE PARENTS DESPERATELY WISH THEY’D KEPT THEM HARNESSED:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azgBhZfcqaQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPBSEQ4xbTw
We also now know the spine is not solid until age 6.
So to sit in a booster and use just the seatbelt like an adult (basically a booster just fits the belt to the child,so it’s essentially the same), they need to be able to not have the lapbelt cause those injuries, have the head proportionate like an adult, and have a solid spine like an adult. kids under age 5 have higher rates of head injury if they are riding in boosters than kids over age 5 (presumably because younger kids have heavier/larger heads in proportion to their bodies, so they fly forward farther or with greater force, thus incurring greater injury if/when they come in contact with vehicle interior or intrusion?).
"Another type of misuse is a child not using the restraint designed for its size and age. The
study of Isaksson-Hellman et al. (1997) showed
that the maximum effect of a restraint system is
not attained if the child is not using the optimal
CRS for its age. Also, a tendency of higher
injury risk was identified when the growing
child switches from one restraint to another, i.e.
when the child is at the youngest age
recommended for the restraint. "
As for what seats:
1)Graco Nautilus – best recommendation b/c of price and ease of use. $150 (check Walmart.com, they were only $123) harnesses to 65lbs with 19" top slots, then becomes a great booster. Can be LATCHed in booster mode (thought to provide added safety for booster seats) Will be the last seat she needs.
2)Britax Frontier – nice seat, steeper price, and may not last as long harnessed as the Nautilus b/c even though the weight limit is 80lbs on the harness, the tallest slots are only just over 18 inches. It is however the tallest booster seat currently on the market. $249 or less.
3)Safety1st Apex65 – this one is at the bottom of the list for a reason. Its much flimsier than the others, doesn’t work as well as a booster, and won’t harness as long b/c of 17" top slots. Harnesses to 65lbs. It is often the cheapest option, though. Beware: the headrests in your vehicle must go at least as high as the middle of the Apex65 headrest in fully extended position. This is b/c the seat has NO support in the back of it.
Children must be in some type of Car Seat Restraint until they are 6.
Children between the ages of 4 and 8, or weighing under 80 lbs, should sit in a booster seat.