Re: California: 15 is Too Young to Ride in Front Seat

On Mon, 7 Apr 2025 18:02:49 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"
<ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:

Apr 5, 2025 at 4:32:10 PM PDT, Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com>:

2025-04-05 6:02 PM, BTR1701 wrote:

>

Wait, so California says children as young as 12 can "change their gender"
and consent to life-altering medical procedures without their parents'
consent (or even knowledge) but they're not mature enough to ride in the
front seat of a car until they're 16.

>

The California legislature seems to be permanently set on April Fools Clown
Mode.

>

https://ibb.co/4RnTHKLt

>

They may have gotten the idea from the Brits. It's been illegal for kids
under 16 (or it may be 14) to sit in the front seat in the UK for quite
a few years.

>

My question (beyond the absurdity mentioned above) is what if you don't
have a back seat? There are plenty of sports cars that only have a
driver and a passenger seat and a lot of pickup trucks also don't have
back seats. Do you have to go out and buy a whole new vehicle just to
accommodate this silly law?

>
As always, it's so much worse than you say.
>
I have no idea what equipment is required in the UK. In the US,
passenger-side airbags are required. The driver's side airbag is much
smaller because of the proximity of the steering wheel but the dashboard is
farther away. In a crash, a child is in far more danger of a neck injury
from the inflation of the airbag than concussion from hitting his head
on the windshield.
>
The statute requiring passenger-side airbags is routinely cited as
having done more harm than good, resulting in more deaths than lives
saved. Parents may put infants in car seats in the passenger seat. This is
not negligence but misunderstanding, for there's no reason why an infant,
properly restrained in a car seat in the passenger seat, wouldn't survive
a crash with just bruising. But due to the airbag's inflation, the infant
will die. Depending on how much an older child or teenager weighs, yeah,
the airbag might cause serious trauma or death when the seatbelt with
shoulder harness would have been sufficient.
>
Even an adult woman who is tiny could be receive serious traumatic
injury or be killed by this airbag.

So you've clearly identified a missing consideration in this law. It
should be amended to implement a height restriction as well as the age
restriction just to keep more people safe. ;)

Yes, with an airbag, the driver needs to consider whether the passenger
weighs enough not to be hurt by the airbag. I wouldn't criminalize this.
>
This has been well studied for years, yet Congress won't repeal the law.
>

. . .