My youngest is about to turn 4 in March and will be moving out of the ever hated car seat with the racing belts (as i call it). My question is, with my 93 standard cab truck and probably most standard cab trucks, the center seat only has the lap belt. Is this still considered legal being that is what the truck is equipped with? My oldest daughter is 6 and she has been in the "belt positioning booster" since 4 y.o. and i could move her to the middle and give my youngest the shoulder belt. I dont drive this truck much unless bad weather is coming and I dont want to get my newer truck torn up or hail damaged. Any input on how this works from those with previous experience? As soon as we get my wife a new car (still talking her into another Explorer instead of a van) then i will just drive her older Explorer when i need to and the problem is solved. But that is still mid year before that happens. Need some help guys. Thanks

 

People did it before, what makes it "less safe" now?

Adrianspeeder

 

Depending on different states and that the government insists on protecting us from our own stupidity I just dont want to get a ticket on something I should have known about. I stood up in the front seat when i was 4. Lap belts only too if you decided to wear one. Laws just keep changing and ignorance of the law is in-excusable. At least thats what they say. Now days they will throw you under the jail for a minor offense. Just want to be covered. But good question though. Why is it not safe now? I have looked up the TN restraint law and some areas seem a little gray and left to interpret your own way.

 

I would check your states DMV site. I know in MD, most of the laws like that are posted online.

 

I suspect you would be allowed to do this since your truck was manufactured at a time when three-point belts were not required for the center-seat occupants. Obviously, a three-point attachment is safer, but if your truck didn't come from the factory with one, I doubt the government can force you to buy a new vehicle just so you can carry your kids around!

The clearest example I can think of for this is when I carry my 6-year-old son around in the front seat of my Ranger with his booster seat. If I was driving a four-door car, law enforcement could ticket me for not having my child restrained in the back seat. However, since the vehicle I drive never came with a backseat, they can't ticket me for the same offense.

 

If nothing else, talk to the local fire fighters, usually they have demonstration days or can tell you over the phone who or what you need. Everything sounds ok from what you want to do though.

 

Really?
You want to expose your child to an unsafe (but legal??) condition in admittedly lousy weather just so you don't risk getting dents/damage to your other truck?

 

Man! Come on! Thats not what im getting at. Chill a little please. The safety of my kids comes first above anything. But I only carry both at the same time at the end of the day when i pick up my youngest from daycare and i live 1.3 miles from there. And right now i am picking up my oldest from my moms after she rides the bus there. And i live less than a mile from them. So, short distance once a day. I know anything can happen but like another poster said, " It was safe then, why not now?" But I will not chance on damaging a $40,000.00 vehicle when i have one sitting there that is legal to drive as well. And this is only for a short few months. I will be driving the wife's when she gets a new one. So problem solved after that anyways. Please dont judge and throw criticism when I am asking advice on legal issues as well as whats safe for my kids. If there is something i can add to my truck to make it better for the middle seat, im all for it. But please dont paint me as caring more for my truck than my kids. Thanks This has not been a concern or an issue until now when the car seat can legally change into a different setup.

 

Heck -- when I was a kid we just stood on the front seat of the station wagon next to our mom and whenever we came to a stop sign she would extend her arm out so we wouldn't topple into the dashboard! Most of us even lived to tell the tale......

 

If it was so unsafe we'd all be dead.

Adrianspeeder

 

The air bag deploying is good for child injuries, constantly.

I used to stand in the front seat next to my dad who was losing his eyesight due to TB so I could inform him when another car was approaching, and when mail boxes were coming up.

The dashboards of vehicles back in the 50's & 60's were one big hunk of metal, seat belts weren't installed yet and no one had ever heard of a "Child Safety Seat".

 

Well, no airbags in a '93, so I'd say he's good to go. Hell, I made it to my airforce days here without wearing a seatbelt. Biggest change I had to make after joining.

Adrianspeeder

 

i like old cars as much as the next guy, my dad has a pro touring 55 chevy 2 door hard top. but you are kidding yourself if you think an older truck is safer than the newer cars.
anti lock brakes, air bags, anti skid control, and vehicle designed to protect the diver just cant be ignored.

those of us that survived standing in the front seat , survived in spite of the bad design and poor desicions, not because of them.

traffic fatalities go down every years, i promise it is not because of fewer drivers or better drivers

 

Bash any of my '70s trucks into my '08, and there is know question which will drive away. Steel > plastic.

Adrianspeeder

 

it's not about how the vehicle will hold up, it's about how the passengers inside will hold up - hence the "crush" zones in the newer vehicles that the older ones did not have