Everything is not OK

[Langenator]

This shit requiring booster seats until kids are damn-near voting age is getting pretty retarded.

Given that the stated requirements are based on height/weight, it's probably sexist, too, since girls tend to be shorter and lighter. My wife is 5'2" as an adult - she probably wouldn't have met current requirements to not use a booster seat until she was in high school. (And wouldn't it be hilarious for some extremely short 16 year old girl to be told she needed a booster seat to take her driver's license test? Imagine the howls.)

[g-man]

Exactly. My wife's maid of honor was/is 4'10" (looked kinda funny walking down with my 6'4" "little" brother...), which is only 1" over the minimum height here in CA. They've at least got the sense to have an age req't that supersedes height.

[Langenator]

It helps that newer cars (and their driver's seats) are a lot more adjustable than older cars. My truck (2001) seat goes forward and back, that's about it, plus the seat belt point on the door pillar can be adjusted up and down. The 2017 Explorer police interceptors I drive at work adjust up, down, forward, back, seat tilt, the pedal distance is adjustable...I can always tell when one of the shorter officers has been driving a car because my head's against the roof and the pedals are way too close to me.

But the critical thing for small kids is the shoulder belt. I've seen some kids, back seat, no booster, with the shoulder belt across their neck. Really not good.

[skb12172]

"The knee-jerk reaction is always the same. One guy shits his pants, and now we all have to wear diapers..."

This is another symptom of our feminized government and society. It's not any different from when you and your siblings had to put on a jacket because your mother was cold.

[BDK]

I get the booster seat thing. If you're too short to see out of the car, safely, you should have one. If you're too short for the safety devices to work properly, you should want to use one, but that's your own business.