Young kids in classic cars...what do you do?

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DrillNFill

DrillNFill

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I want to take my 7-year old for a ride in the newish '70 Swinger but I want to do it as safely as possible. She uses an "under the butt" booster seat in our other cars. Since the booster is designed (I think) to raise the kids up to the proper height for a shoulder/lap belt, is it better to not use a booster if only lap belts are involved? It seems to me that the lower the kid is positioned strapped to a lap-only belt, the safer they are. Also I figure for a single kid, the center rear seat with lap belt is the safest, away from metal doorskins and glass.

This all just feels so counter-intuitive to me after years and years of car seats/ carriers/ boosters that I wanted to reach out and see what others' opinions are. I want the kids to have fun but also want to be as safe as we reasonably can.

(And for those wondering, I am old enough to remember going round town in NYC traffic in my Dad's Duster- in the front seat with absolutely no restraints involved! But times have definitely changed since the early '80s. :) )
 
Because the booster seat put the child above the rear seat, I did not take any of my kids until they were old enough tall enough to ditch the car seat. If you get rear ended and the head /neck is above the top of seat- that is going to be very bad-. Its just not worth it.
 
Check your state law about that. In Georgia, I think they have age as well as weight and maybe height standards as to "when" a child can ride without a car seat or booster. So you want to make sure you're legal of course, but most importantly "SAFE".
 
well, we used to take my '54 Ford and my '65 Ply. '54 no restraints so we went like it was '54 :) The '65 had lap belts in the front so we went like '65, kids in the back.

Filet me now.......
 
You know back when I was a little kid We had a 65 Barracuda that my Mom thought was the greatest car ever made. 273 Commando 4 speed had it's own "playpen" in the back where she would put me hanging on the grab bar like little Kilroy while my brother who was a baby was wrapped in a blanket and laid between the bucket seats on the hump!!! Today you'd get arrested before you made it down the block driving with little kids like that. Back then it was common (Somehow we survived)

IMG_3938.JPG


IMG_3941.JPG
 
318willrun said:
well, we used to take my '54 Ford and my '65 Ply. '54 no restraints so we went like it was '54 :) The '65 had lap belts in the front so we went like '65, kids in the back.

Filet me now.......
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Why? That's how it was done for decades. Then we started raisin sissies.
 
DrillNFill said:
(And for those wondering, I am old enough to remember going round town in NYC traffic in my Dad's Duster- in the front seat with absolutely no restraints involved! But times have definitely changed since the early '80s. :) )
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My dad had a Chevy Impala. Early 60's. I had three older brothers so they sat in the back seat and I laid on the back package tray on Sunday when we visited Grand parents on Sundays .I think I was around 3.
 
Well,with my kids we started with the booster. Just make sure the seat belt is tight




Maybe if I had my car earlier we could have the basinet in back. That would be a warm tanned baby
 
Just get a car seat like this one. Easily hang on front seat has seat belt and gear shift. More steel than a prius. This is mine from the 50's that my mom saved.
16233494225355570178393726854817.jpg
 
For my grandson, I called the local police dept and asked them. I was told to do whatever was safest for the child. As I have shoulder belts in the front but not the back, he rode in the front with his booster seat
 
Is she small enough to ride is a full seat that has its own harnesses? That would be ideal. My boys, 8 and 11 are gigantic compared to most kids their age, so no seats for them. We buckle in and go for a ride, but most around the neighbor hood.
 
Not safe? Maybe, but my 64 and older cars don’t have any belts and have taken grandkids for a spin every now and then.
 
My "kid" is 6'8" and 330 lbs!!! 16 years old!!! You should see how ridiculous it is when he sits in the Barracuda LOL My '65 was worse His knees are up to the dash pad You can't put the seat back far enough for him to get his legs under the dash.
 
RON REAGLE said:
You know back when I was a little kid We had a 65 Barracuda that my Mom thought was the greatest car ever made. 273 Commando 4 speed had it's own "playpen" in the back where she would put me hanging on the grab bar like little Kilroy while my brother who was a baby was wrapped in a blanket and laid between the bucket seats on the hump!!! Today you'd get arrested before you made it down the block driving with little kids like that. Back then it was common (Somehow we survived)

View attachment 1715749973

View attachment 1715749974
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Too funny. My dad had a 66 Barracuda with a 273 that had 2-4’s on a tunnel ram and 4.56 gears. My mom took us to school everyday and everywhere else in that car. My mom is a bit of a bad *** though.
 
One of my fondest childhood road trip memories was lying on the package tray of my parents car looking at the night time stars through the rear window as we were heading up to the Sierras for a camping/fishing trip. Another is sitting on my dad's lap "steering" the car while he worked the pedals (and made sure the steering was correct with his hand on the steering wheel down low where I couldn't see it.
I must have been about 5 years old.
How did we ever survive our parents outrageous parenting skills?
 
I had a 71 malibu years ago and the owners manual said children should stand on the floor behind the front seat. Obviously that doesn’t fly. I was gonna
Weld in the new little u brackets that the things clip to under the back seat. Havent yet
 
Thanks for the thoughts everyone. I did check Pennsylvania's traffic code as RustyRatRod suggested, it seems no matter what the seat belt situation is in the car, a booster seat is required for someone her size.

dano said:
Is she small enough to ride is a full seat that has its own harnesses? That would be ideal. My boys, 8 and 11 are gigantic compared to most kids their age, so no seats for them. We buckle in and go for a ride, but most around the neighbor hood.
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She outgrew the full harness car seat a few years ago, she's pretty tall for her age.

Early a body said:
Just had a thought , they sell high back booster seats, you could use one of those in the back seat and you would be fine and the kid would be safe.
Graco TurboBooster Highback Booster Car Seat - Novi
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She has several boosters, most just the bottom piece, but she has one that's high-backed that I switch between the Jeep and the Caprice. I'll probably use that in the center rear seat position, but no matter what booster we use, it's still just a lap belt holding her in.

It's gonna be a looooong time before my 1-year old son gets a ride in Daddy's new project :lol:
 
Backally said:
I was told to do whatever was safest for the child. As I have shoulder belts in the front but not the back, he rode in the front with his booster seat
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The only reason they make them sit in the back is airbags which you don't have so I think your good !
 
DrillNFill said:
I want to take my 7-year old for a ride in the newish '70 Swinger but I want to do it as safely as possible. She uses an "under the butt" booster seat in our other cars. Since the booster is designed (I think) to raise the kids up to the proper height for a shoulder/lap belt, is it better to not use a booster if only lap belts are involved? It seems to me that the lower the kid is positioned strapped to a lap-only belt, the safer they are. Also I figure for a single kid, the center rear seat with lap belt is the safest, away from metal doorskins and glass.

This all just feels so counter-intuitive to me after years and years of car seats/ carriers/ boosters that I wanted to reach out and see what others' opinions are. I want the kids to have fun but also want to be as safe as we reasonably can.

(And for those wondering, I am old enough to remember going round town in NYC traffic in my Dad's Duster- in the front seat with absolutely no restraints involved! But times have definitely changed since the early '80s. :) )
Click to expand...

On thing the booster seats are designed to do, is in the event of an accident, they limit the amount of pressure that the seatbelt will put on the child's hips.
Which is a good thing, less likely to break their pelvic bones.
 
Used to ride in the back of a 67 Ranchero with a canvise top. Dad and Mom up front, 3 kids in back handing beer up front out of the cooler. 400 mile ride and we all made it.
 
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