5 foot tall 10 year old is still safer in back, even if it's only the lap belt right?

[LynnS6]

Tomorrow I need to transport 3 kids (ages 10, 10, 7) on a 2 hour trip. Our car has 3 seat belts in the back -- 2 shoulder belts and a lap belt in the middle.

I was assuming that I'm going to put the 2 kids who are shorter than 4'9" (the 7 year old and one of the 10 year olds) in a booster, which requires the shoulder belt, and the other 10 year old (5' tall, or just a hair under) in the lap belt.

Dh just asked whether he'd be safer in the front with the shoulder belt. My gut reaction was 'no, he needs to be in the back,' but now I'm second guessing myself.

FWIW, the front has an airbag that cannot be deactivated. And ds (the tall 10 year old) is a lightweight -- 5' tall about 71 lbs.

[mama2soren]

I would definitely not put a child (or an adult!) in a lap belt.  I'd much rather have him in front in a lap-shoulder belt.  Can you put the front seat all the way back so that he's as far away from the airbag as possible?

[DahliaRW]

I agree w/ mama2soren.  Though Ideally you'd find a tall enough harnessed seat for the middle for one of the kids.  But up frong with a lap/shoulder belt and the seat pushed all the way back is safer than a lap belt, IMO.

[Maedze]

The safest thing of course is to have all three in the back, with the seven year old in the middle, probably in a size large Ride Safer Travel Vest, using the top tether.   

Of course, you probably don't have a vest, and you may not have a top tether, in which case, I would put the 10 year old in the front seat.   If this is going to be a regular occurrence, I'd buy/beg/steal a vest and make sure I have top tethers in my vehicle.  

[LynnS6]

Oops, forgot to check back. They were all 3 in the backseat and we got there and back without an accident, so no harm done. We do have a top tether, but no Safe Rider Vest, and since this is a once every 3 years kind of thing, it's unlikely to happen again. (Especially since we've got a 1998 car that will need to be replaced in the next 2 -3 years anyway.)

I think if I had to do it again, I'd rent a car with 3 shoulder belts in the back. Cheaper than the Safe Ride vest.