Wagon question: kids in the third row?

[Papooses]

Originally Posted by cevamal

Do you know whether Virginia has a proper use clause? My primary goal is keeping my kids safe, but I am curious what the restrictions are here in VA.

Yes, I believe Virginia has a rather strict proper use clause. Here is an interactive map by the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety.

Originally Posted by IIHS: Child Restraint Laws footnote 14

In Virginia, children at least 4 years but less than 8 years may be belted if any licensed physician determines that use of a child restraint system by a particular child would be impractical by reason of the child's weight, physical fitness, or other medical reason, provided that any person transporting a child so exempted shall carry on his person or in the vehicle a signed written statement of the physician identifying the child so exempted and stating the grounds for the determination.

Here's a summary of the law & the following is from a thread in another forum detailing the Virginia child passenger safety law improvements . . .

Originally Posted by skaterbabscpst

You guys may want to keep up on these:

HB1065: Safety belts; makes non-use thereof primary offense.
Chief Patron: Del. Kris Amundson (D-44)
Richmond Sunlight 2008 Safety belts; makes non-use thereof primary offense. (HB1065)

SB649: Motor vehicle safety belt systems; repeals language that makes nonuse secondary offense.
Chief Patron: Sen. Patsy Ticer (D-30)
Richmond Sunlight 2008 Motor vehicle safety belt systems; repeals language that makes nonuse secondary offense. (SB649)

HB1535: Safety belts; makes non-use thereof primary offense.
Chief Patron: Del. William Barlow (D-64)
Richmond Sunlight 2008 Safety belts; makes non-use thereof primary offense. (HB1535)

And of course the one we all want to defeat :thumbsdown: :

HB225: Child restraint devices; exempts children being transported in minibuses and certain vans.
Chief Patron: Del. John Cosgrove (R-78)
Richmond Sunlight 2008 Child restraint devices; exempts children being transported in minibuses and certain vans. (HB225)

So far it's been great to have space for the dog! My primary car is a Civic and we have a Great Dane so there was no way to bring her in the car with all four of us.

Be sure the rest of the family is safe by buckling up your doggy, too There are only 2 pet restraint systems that are considered reliable enough to withstand crash force, especially for such a big dog > IMMI Pet Buckle (made by the makers of LATCH + emergency vehicle restraint systems) & Ruff Rider Roadie. Otherwise, an unrestrained 100# doggy in a mere 30 MPH crash could fly over the back seats, crashing into the human occpants with 3,000 pounds of crash force within a split second

I was thrilled to discover I can fit three seats across the back! In my Civic the Marathons are about 4" apart...this is a much wider car! I can easily put the scenera in the middle and turboboosters on either side.

Yay, that is good news

	LATCH LATCH stands for Lower Anchors and Tethers for CHildren. It is a system mandated by the Federal government in an effort to standardize and simplify the installation of child restraints without using the vehicle's seat belt system. New vehicles and child safety seats manufactured on and after September 1, 2002 will be equipped with the LATCH system. Cars, minivans, and light trucks will be required to have anchor points between the vehicle's seat cushion and the seat back in at least two rear seating positions, and a top tether anchor (with the exception of convertibles). Child safety seats will have a lower set of attachments that fasten to the vehicle anchors. Most forward-facing child safety seats will also have a top strap (tether) that attaches to the top anchor in the vehicle.