riding in an expired backless booster

[riversong]

I borrowed boosters from my carpool partner today (the only two she has) and they're both expired.  One expired 2 years ago and the other looked really old, but I didn't check for a sticker.  These are the boosters dd sits in when she rides in my carpool partner's car twice a week. 

So, what would you do in my situation?   Buy a new backless booster and give it to her for dd to use when she's in her car?  I don't mind the expense of doing that, I just don't want to offend her.  How would you explain why you're giving her the booster tactfully?  She's very smart and a friend of mine, but doesn't take car seat expiration dates seriously.

[Maedze]

Yes.  You cannot let your child ride in those seats again.  Seats can and do fail catastrophically when they are beyond their marked life.  The cost is not worth the potential of a little embarrassment for your friend.   You can buy a backless booster and just smile and say, "I noticed yours were out of date and not legal anymore.  I didn't want to put you to any trouble so I grabbed one for DD.  They're only XX dollars at X store!"   

How old and big is your child?

[riversong]

My dd is 7.5 and about 52 inches tall and around 50 lbs.  She can't legally ride without a booster till she's 8 here, but I wonder if that would be safer than sitting in an expired booster!

I will buy a booster and give it to my friend for dd to use in her car.  And I'll suggest that her son sit in it whenever dd is not in the car!  She can just keep it in her car till the end of the school year.

[Maedze]

That's very generous of you :-)


Also keep in mind that your daughter needs to continue to use the booster when she turns 8.  It being legal to go without does NOT make it safe.  It would be very very dangerous for her to ride without a booster either now or six months from now.  

Seatbelts are designed for grown men.   The smallest a child has a chance of being properly protected by a booster is around 4'9", which is the size of a 50th percentile eleven year old.  So your 7 year old (as will mine, and he's upwards of 95% in height) will be in a booster for many more years.

[emma00]

Forgive a somewhat ignorant question - but what would a "catastrophic failure" look like in a backless booster.  I'm certainly not advocating using expired seats - but I'm trying to understand the risk.  The risk of a traditional car seat failing is more obvious to me than a backless booster.  Doesn't a booster just act as a positioning device so that the seatbelt does its job properly? 

[MacKinnon]

Originally Posted by emma00 

Forgive a somewhat ignorant question - but what would a "catastrophic failure" look like in a backless booster.  I'm certainly not advocating using expired seats - but I'm trying to understand the risk.  The risk of a traditional car seat failing is more obvious to me than a backless booster.  Doesn't a booster just act as a positioning device so that the seatbelt does its job properly? 

Boosters do have structural parts, typically, the arm rests work as a sort of artificial hip to keep the belt low on the hips, if the belt is not routed correctly, the plastic gave-way, the arm rests popped off (in the case of a seat like the Graco TurboBooster were screws are required), that would be considered a catastrophic failure, with the consequence likely being "seat belt syndrome" or abdominal injuries.

[Maedze]

Originally Posted by MacKinnon 


Boosters do have structural parts, typically, the arm rests work as a sort of artificial hip to keep the belt low on the hips, if the belt is not routed correctly, the plastic gave-way, the arm rests popped off (in the case of a seat like the Graco TurboBooster were screws are required), that would be considered a catastrophic failure, with the consequence likely being "seat belt syndrome" or abdominal injuries.

Exactly.   A booster failing could easily lead to ejection, massive internal injury, or death. 

[emma00]

Thanks for the explanation.  That makes sense to me now.