4' 9" Is the Magic Number Booster Seat Ad Campaign
Have you seen the Disney Cinderella booster seat ad campaign? I drove by a bill board the other day. The sign reads: 4' 9" is the magic number and has a picture of the Fairy Godmother. After I saw the bill board, I thought to myself, "I'm only 3 inches away from requiring a booster seat." I'm only 5' tall.
I searched booster seats on the internet to find out further information about the ad. The booster seats are required in most states for children at least 4 but less than 8, and 40 to 80 pounds and shorter than 4 feet 9 inches tall.
Luckily for me, the driver seat is adjustable or I might just need a booster seat even with my extra three inches and 40 pounds.
As far as safety goes, the law is smart for kids. According to the National Highway Safety Administration, children 4 to 8 who are properly secured in booster seats are nearly 60 percent less likely to be injured in a crash than children restrained only by a safety belt.
A booster seat elevates a child and allows the seat belts to properly restrain a child without causing further injuries in a crash.
SO GIVE YOUR KIDS A BOOST!
19 comments:
yeah that 4 foot 9 thing couldn't even stand in my family. I couldn't get my kid in a booster seat after he was 6. He was a whopping 80lbs by 6. He's not fat, just huge like his father and my uncles. I mean he's 10 now and weighs 150 still under 4 foot 9 but wears a size 8 shoe, and size adult large shirts.
Oi he's gonna be a hulk.
I completely believe in them though, there are tons of people here that don't even buckle their kids up, makes me so fricken mad.
They throw thier little kids in the front seat, no booster seat, no seat belt, and WITH an air bag.
Makes you so angry.
You've got yourself a line backer! Nice.
No seat belts, front seat w/ air bags-yikes!
Cars aren't made like they were when we didn't have car seats-it's just too dangerous.
a agree it's very dangerous. My husband being a firefighter/emt on our volunteer dept, has had to pick up way to many dead bodies on the highways around here.
Must be why we own an older truck and suburban. hehehehee
I'm gonna drive me a tank. LOL
wait a minute... you only have to be 48inches tall for the most extreme Disney rides. Someone needs to redesign the backseats of cars.
I couldn't disagree more with the 4'9" thing. That's ridiculous. I am in the 8th grade & I'm 5' tall. I know a kid (who's also in the 8th grade) who's really short. We're talking REALLY short. All the kids make fun of him for it. Now he's about a head shorter than me & DEFINITELY shorter than 4'9". Would you make him use a booster seat? In the 8th grade? Can you even imagine how degrading that would be? What if he was gonna go somewhere with a friend & the friend got in the car & saw that he used a booster seat? He already gets made fun of for being short, so if he used a booster seat & it got around the school, he would NEVER hear the end of it.
Heck, I was about 4'9" or less in 5th grade & I would've refused to use one then.
I know that if you don't make your child use a booster seat you MIGHT get in a wreck & they MIGHT get hurt, but if you DO make them use one after they're 8, they will DEFINITELY be made fun of.
So do your kids a favor & don't even mention the words "booster seat" after age 8.
How about doing all kids a favor and preventing head and spinal cord injuries - or death - by using restraint systems appropriate for their height and weight? These recommendations are the result of RESEARCH and people dedicated to keeping you kids SAFE. I would rather my 9 year old remain able to walk, talk and grow up than worry about whatever issues their friends have. I have personally held too many hysterical parents at the bedside of the child they just lost. Embarrassed is MUCH better than paralyzed, brain damanged or dead!
LRD, RN
I'm very thankful they didn't have this law in 1977. As a freshman in high school, I was just a hair under 4'9", and I weighed about 65 pounds. At a time when many adolescents want to look at least 20, I was mystified as to how to pass for more than ten. It was devastating at age 15 to be given kids' menus, have people talk down to me, and to not be taken seriously when talking with my peers. Shopping was a nightmare as I was still wearing size 10/12 in little girls. I can remember crying in a Sears' dressing room during back-to-school shopping, because the only clothes that I could wear, (Boy, there were a lot of Shawn Cassidy T-Shirts then!), were not representative of what high schoolers were wearing. If this law had been in effect, I would have had to have gone to high school in a booster seat!
Currently, I'm 5' 1/2". My girls are tiny also, but the older ones are old enough that they just missed the booster seat requirements. However, I have a six year old, who will probably still meet the requirements for a booster seat while she is in at least Jr. High. (She only weighs about 33 pounds now.) If that is the case, I don't think that I have it in me to make her be in one then.
What a sad commentary on what has become of our society ... I've read through my copy of the US Constitution … and can't find in it anywhere that it's the government's (i.e., the NTHSA bureaucrats) responsibility to legislate (force) the citizenry to exercise COMMON SENSE.
Don’t get me wrong, I never drive my car(s) without ensuring that I and all my passengers are properly buckled and that my kids are properly secured in their car / booster seats … I just don’t want the government telling me what I can or can’t do (and yes, I do realize that driving is a privilege and not a right). More kids die each year from drowning … do we outlaw swimming pools, lakes, oceans, etc.????
… And didja hear the latest? … the research is still inconclusive … but the widely used flame retardants (known as PBDE's) have been linked to birth defects and are suspect cancer causing agents … the real bad thing is that the majority of car / booster seat manufacturers over-use these PBDE’s to ensure that their products comply with federally mandated standards for fire resistance.
For Sale: (1) Graco - High Back TurboBooster Youth Car Seat … CHEAP!!!!
If you actually go and read the information is says at least 8 years old OR 4'9. It never implys that a high schooler would be in a booster seat. Have some sense!!! And it is NOT a law. It is a recommendation.
Heck, im 15 going to be 16 in january and im only 4'7ish no way in he!! would i get in a booster seat. I find this ridiculous and like this one person said about disney and there ride's ;)
Hewceojih@yahoo.com
In responce to Kelly,
I understand where your coming form with the whole midle schoolers not being that tall yet, but the 4'9 thing is more for elementary school children, I'm 17 years old 5'5, I have a 6 year old cousin who is 4'5 and about 50 lbs shes tall for her age and we still put her in the carseat and she will comtinue to ride in her carseat until she can meet both standards for no longer needing it, They're for safety, it doesnt matter how old you are your never to old to be safe, just think one day you may be wearing diapers again, will you refuse to wear them to protect you from embaressment or would you just put it on and go on with your life? One day when you have children you will understand the 4'9 rule
I am 4'9 and I'm 15. I'm going to be driving soon! So many kids make fun of me and I hate it. One time I almost committed suicide because of this. I hate this. I hate being short! I hate it when now the whole world including imaginary people are making fun of me!!! I know now that I love being short and the actual rule is '6 or 60' meaning you have to be age 6 or 60 lbs.
I'm in the ninth grade and am only 5 feet 1 inches tall. I have friends in my grade and one in her senior year who is 4 ft 8 in. This is outrageous!!! It's discrimination against short people!!! Talk about dehumanizing, I AM NOT YOUR LITTLE PUMPKIN!!!! What are the police going to do? Carry around tape measures and measure every teenager who's not in a booster seat? Keep booster seats in the back of police cars for short criminals? DOWN WITH THE BOOSTER SEAT FOR TEENS!!!!
Why wouldn't you want your child to be as safe as possible? My oldest daughter was in a booster until she was 9 years old, 80 lbs and 4'9". She didn't mind because she didn't like the seat belt cutting into her neck. My 6 year old is finally in a high back booster after being in 5 point harness her whole life. She's only 34 lbs and according to AZ she doesn't need a booster? I'm not saying send your jr high kid to school in a booster but think about it. Do you want lower the risk of their spine snapping? This can happen if a seat belt isn't placed properly across their lap.
I honestly believe cars should be made with seat belts that adjust a little more to your height and that this stupidity about putting maturing children in booster seats should be put to an end I'm 21 years old and I get so upset everytime is see this commercial. Or they should make booster seats that look like pillows and not car seats. If you ask me it seems like a good way to make your children hate you.
This is truly ignorant. Adult persons with dwarfism are almost all under 4'8"... and many, if not most, drive.
In addition, the stupid commercial with the Disney characters has the symbol for feet curved to the wrong side. (Educators, huh?)
Honestly why don't they just make the existing seating in car face inwards as frankly that's been proven safest. All 7 yr olds and up will throw a fit about being in a booster seat. Cars where stronger when I was little and car seats and booster seats decision was up to driver. Grandpa had some rules. Mother and dad not really other then back seat till we say you can sit up front but that's cause me and later full sis figured out how to escape carseats around 18 months old. How did grandpa get his rebel little granddaughters to like a booster seat till age 4 and sit in back till age 6. By being clever saying see how much better you can see out window with the little boost. And said it is a type of graduating to make us like back seat more when get to six you graduate to front seat. Yes we bought it because he was so sweet about it.
I am going to be 18 next month I have my license but I am only 4'8 am I supposed to be in a booster seat why I drive then I wouldn't be able to reach the pedals and I couldn't reach the pedals or see over the dash on the driver ed car so I have to get a special car it took forever for me to find a vehicle so should I be in a booster seat I was supposed to be in it still
I am an adult and am only 4'8". I wouldn't be able to reach the gas or brake pedal if I were in a booster seat, and need my seat pulled forward as far as it will go. I am real concerned that I would be seriously hurt if I were in an accident and the airbags went off. If I need a booster seat in order to make the seat belts fit properly, then I need an extension on my foot pedals. Hmm, seems like the auto industry ought to be looking into these things. Not everyone is over 5' tall.
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