The Child Restraint and the Front Seat Question
Aisha is driving her two children to school. Her daughter is 5 years old, weighs 18 kg, and is 105 cm tall. Her son is 9 years old, weighs 30 kg, and is 135 cm tall. The family car is a 2012 sedan with airbags in both front seats and a rear bench with three seating positions, two of which have lap-shoulder belts and one of which has only a lap belt. Aisha's sister wants to ride along, which would fill the rear seat. Aisha proposes to put the 5-year-old in the front passenger seat in a forward-facing child seat so the sister can sit in the back. The trip is 15 minutes on city streets at 40 km/h.
1. Is Aisha's plan for the 5-year-old lawful and safe in B.C.? Walk through the child restraint requirements and the front-seat rule.
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Child restraint requirement. B.C. requires children to be secured in an appropriate child restraint until they are at least 9 years old or 145 cm tall, whichever comes first. The 5-year-old at 18 kg and 105 cm is well within that range and must use a child seat appropriate to her weight and height - a forward-facing seat with a harness or a booster, depending on the seat's limits.
Front seat. A child under 12 should not ride in the front seat where an active frontal airbag is present. The airbag deploys at high speed and can seriously injure a small child. The rear seat is the correct position. Placing the 5-year-old in the front to free a rear seat is exactly the trade-off the rule is designed to prevent.
Conclusion. The plan is not safe. The 5-year-old belongs in the rear in her child seat. The sister should not ride along, or should ride in the remaining rear position if a proper belt fit is available - but not at the cost of moving the child forward.
2. The rear bench has one lap-only belt. How should Aisha allocate the three rear positions, and what does the 9-year-old need?
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The 9-year-old. At 30 kg and 135 cm, he is under 145 cm, so he still needs a booster seat. A booster requires a lap-shoulder belt to position the shoulder strap correctly; a lap-only belt cannot anchor a booster's shoulder path and would leave his upper body unrestrained. He must sit in a lap-shoulder position with his booster.
The 5-year-old. She needs her forward-facing child seat, installed in a lap-shoulder position if the seat requires a tether and shoulder belt, which most do. That consumes the second lap-shoulder position.
The lap-only position. It is suitable only for a passenger for whom a lap belt alone provides adequate restraint - generally an adult. It is not appropriate for either child. Therefore the sister can ride in the lap-only position only if she is an adult for whom that belt fits correctly, and even then a lap-only belt offers weaker upper-body protection.
Allocation. 5-year-old in her child seat in one lap-shoulder position; 9-year-old in his booster in the other lap-shoulder position; the sister in the lap-only position if she accepts the reduced protection, or she does not ride along. No child goes in the lap-only position and no child goes in front.