Properly buckling up kids in vehicles takes patience to grasp
Q. Hi Honk: We have a couple of grandkids who are growing like weeds. We want to make sure they are as safe as possible in our car. We’re finding it confusing as to what ages, weights or height to use for transitioning from a car seat to a booster seat to regular seat belts. Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.
– Greg Holland, Irvine
A. The laws and suggestions aren’t as complex as trig, but they do take a bit of effort to absorb and are much more important than that math stuff.
Here we go. …
Boys and girls younger than age 2 must be in a rear-facing car seat, under the law, and almost always in the backseat. Front-seat airbags can be deadly.
An exception: When the child hits 40 pounds, or 40 inches in height, they can face the front, so their feet aren’t pushed up against the seat.
But keep them in rear-facing seats as long as practical. The California Highway Patrol says children in rear-facing seats are five times safer than in forward-facing ones.
“Once that child is too big for that seat, they go to a booster,” said Tino Olivera, a CHP officer and spokesman in the Santa Ana station.
Officer Olivera added that parents should follow the seat manufacturer’s directions as to how long you should use a child’s seat or a booster.
Children up to 8 years old must ride in the back (there are some rare exceptions). They must also – unless they are already at least 4-feet-9-inches tall – be in a child’s restraint of some sort.
Always make sure the belts “fits safely across the chest” and never near the neck, and, Olivera said, it is always safer in the back – so keep those little guys back there as long as you can.
Honk followed that advice, and, well, the Little Honks spent most of their childhoods in the back seat, often after filing their versions of a protest.
Best advice Honk can offer up on the subject: You can call the business line of your local CHP stationhouse and make an appointment to go by with the child for personal instruction on how to properly restrain him or her.
A cop or other certified instructor will teach you – for free.
Honkin’ update: Huntington Beach’s Bill Nibeel wondered last week about the best place to put one’s hands on the steering wheel, with the Automobile Club of Southern California saying at 8 and 4 o’clock.
He was also curious about the law, but Honk needed some more time to lasso a solid answer, and here it is:
In California, you can drive even with just one hand, so long as the second one is poised to react to trouble, said Rafael Reynoso, a CHP officer and spokesman based in the San Juan Capistrano station.
However, the CHP advises using two, so the driver is better prepared in case chaos comes.
Drivers certainly can be cited if an officer determines the method of steering is not safe.
Honkin’ fact No. 1: A gallon of regular gas costs an average of $3.95 in the state, according to this week’s survey by the California Energy Commission. Let’s look back at past figures for this time of year:
2018: $3.62
2014: $3.69
2009: $3.10
2004: $2.09
1999: $1.39
Honkin’ fact No. 2: Honk crafted his words this week from the Motel Du Beau in Flagstaff, Arizona, which opened in 1929 and is perhaps the country’s oldest motor hotel, or motel. America’s first was the Milestone Mo-Tel Inn in San Luis Obispo, but it closed down in 1991.
To ask Honk questions, reach him at honk@ocregister.com. He only answers those that are published. To see Honk online: ocregister.com/tag/honk.