Do you require seatbelts for the backseat?

[Susan in TN]

I personally feel naked without a seatbelt - my older kids are very diligent about making sure their younger siblings are thoroughly buckled into their carseats, too.

[iquilt]

Absolutely required for everyone - even when Grandma complains about wearing one when she visits. The van does not start until all are buckled.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I realize that this girl is a freshman in high school but it is my car and I would feel awful if I were to get into an accident and she wasn't wearing one. WWYD

 

Of course you can require her to wear her seat belt.

I think you can also be a good model for her on how to be a responsible driver. She's only a year or so away from that and within a few years, she's going to be faced with deciding if she rides with drivers who are reckless or not (drinking, speeding, cell phone while driving ect).

Who knows, you could save her life in the future by giving her a lesson that it's not that hard to require safety when driving.

[Peek a Boo]

I do for kiddos, but for my dad that would be a problem. We just wouldn't go anywhere, if I said it was my car and my rules and such. Plus, I defer to him as an elderly person. I respect his choice, though I think it's wrong.

 

This would be my initial reaction too, but considering he puts everyone else at risk [see previous posts about human projectiles in this thread] I would encourage you to insist. And having an obstinate fil too [btdt], yeah, you'd likely have an extra seat when you went places :/

 

double buckling is a pet peeve of mine too. rrrrrr!!!

[Oak Knoll Mom]

May I comment on this? I have noticed more and more people making statements like this lately. More and more adults are becoming so timid around children. May I remind everyone that WE are the adults. I think many young people today sense this timidity adults have and are becoming bolder and more brazen because of it.

:iagree:

[MoniMoni]

I personally feel naked without a seatbelt

 

Me too. When I was doing alot of driving, sitting around the house made me feel like something was missing. It took me some time to realize it was a seatbelt!

 

I agree with "My car, my rules." But, I too am uncomfortable confronting other peoples kids unless it is important. This is important. Tell her politely, if she makes a fuss tell her parents she isn't allowed to ride if she refuses to happily respect your rules.

 

I also agree with Nestof3 that we are the adults. My father hates confrontations so we were raised to be non-confrontational. It makes it hard to function in the real world because I just never learned those skills. I am trying to do a better job at being the adult. I have noticed several OPK aren't being really talked/listened to by the adults in their lives, so I think they put their back up to any adult who addresses them. It is sad.

 

How did it go yesterday?

[newsong]

Seatbelts all around here, no matter what. And my younger dc still sit in the back seat away from the air bag. They also stay in boosters until they can wear the shoulder belt properly.

 

I'm another one who feels naked without my seatbelt on. Can you imagine going on a roller coaster without a belt or at least a bar (even the bar doesn't seem like enough)? Same feeling for me. You can never know what will happen. We are at risk every time we drive, even if it's just down the road a piece.

[Peek a Boo]

Me too. When I was doing alot of driving, sitting around the house made me feel like something was missing. It took me some time to realize it was a seatbelt!

 

This reminds me of watching the toddlers when we bring their carseats inside-- they climb in and ask to be buckled, lol! they'll sit there for a solid 20 minutes playing w/ a stuffed animal pretending they are on a car ride.

 

or when we line up the 6 chairs into 2 rows so it resembles the seating in the van -- they get ropes, strings, whatever and tie on a seatbelt. hee hee.

[Only me]

My dd had to stay after school for a meeting that lasted 20 minutes. It's amazing because every other day they need me to give their dd a ride home but somehow they come up with transportation when their daughter would have to wait around for 20 minutes. My dd will be staying after school all next week for an hour so hopefully this means they will find other transportation for their dd anyway.

 

I was going to enforce her to buckle up. In the past I have always done this and I'm not sure why I didn't on Thursday. I guess I wasn't in the mood for a confrontation but obviously this is more important.

 

Thank you everyone for making me realize that I'm not the only one on the planet that enforces these rules. I was really starting to think I was. Just yesterday my kids were commenting to me how a girl on our block who probably doesn't even weigh more than 50 pounds or so was riding in the front seat and we're not even sure she was buckled up. My oldest dd had to sit in a booster seat until she was 11. She is barely big enough now not to have to sit in one since she is 16 but only 87 pounds. I also didn't let her start sitting in the front seat until last year when she finally hit 5 feet.

[sweetbaby]

Absolutely! I have seen too many results of not wearing them.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

You are the Pilot in Command. As such, it is your job to make sure all seats are buckled.

 

Simply announce that you're not moving until everyone is buckled. Your car -- your rules.

[MakingScrapbooks]

We require them, because it's a law in GA to wear them.

[my2kidsmom]

yes, always and ds (5) sits in a booster

children are not allowed to sit in the front seat either unless absolutely necessary (dd 9 did once when we were hauling a car full of stuff)

[Starr]

Yes, I make everyone buckle up. I blame it on my years as an orthopedic nurse. The problem is that some of the visiting teens take them off during the ride or don't use the shoulder strap. I feel like I'm back on the sidewalks waiting for a toddler to quit dragging her feet so I can push the stroller. It's just not that difficult to wear!

[TN Mama]

...to all the responses. Putting on my seatbelt is such an autopilot reaction that mine is buckled if I'm just moving my vehicle from the garage to the street. I don't even think twice about it - snap - just goes on.

 

I do also require adults to buckle up if I'm driving. As a young person I was in an auto accident and the young adult sitting behind me did not have her seatbelt on. Not only did her body fly into the back of my seat and cause back problems for me, but she sued my insurance company because of her (minor) injuries.

 

Today, in my car you.must.buckle.

 

:)

[Lizzie in Ma]

So I don't even have to be the bad guy about making them.

[Harriet Vane]

I would (and have before) refused to move the car until all are buckled up. I also refuse to transport any little ones for any distance without a booster or appropriate car seat.

 

A cousin of mine died at age 10 several years ago due to not wearing a seatbelt. She was in the back row of a minivan. ALL of the others in the car walked away with bruises and scratches. She, however, was thrown from the car and died.

 

I was pretty careful about seatbelts before then, but after the accident my resolve cemented NEVER to drive until everyone is properly belted.

 

Your car, your rules.

[cricket1178]

The car doesn't go anywhere until all the seatbelts are on, even in the backseat. If you ride in my car, you HAVE to wear a seatbelt, otherwise, you can find another way home.

 

:iagree: Same rule here!

[Danestress]

No one, under any circumstances, is riding in my car with out a seatbelt on. There is no way a freshman high school girl's pride would be so important that I would refrain from telling her to buckle up.