There's nothing quite like the words "road trip" to bring back plenty of childhood memories. When you're a member of a four-child family, there is no such thing as pricey plane trips off to Europe or Hawaii - "vacation" equals a station wagon, a cooler full of pop and damp cheese, and miles of open road.
But there was one component of our family treks that greatly resembled travel by jet: once at cruising speed, seatbelts were optional.
And I'm pretty positive that each of us came home from the hospital - as most babies did then - wrapped snugly in a blanket and carried in our mother's arms, in the front seat of the car.
How times have changed. Over the last four decades, infant and child car seat laws - like drunk driving laws, bike helmet laws and various other safety-related legislation - were slowly toughened up in response to tragic accidents in which it became increasingly clear that simple changes could dramatically decrease the rate of death and signifi-cant injury.
I know, I know: you grew up "just fine" without all this nonsense over rear-facing car seats, bike helmets, and the like.
There are too many laws now. Parents today are just "over-protective" and want to keep their kids bubble-wrapped from the day they arrive, right?
Here's the real truth: if you're reading this, you're one of the lucky ones - like me and my siblings - who survived through childhood safely despite an appalling lack of car seat safety and a culturally casual adherence to seatbelt laws. Many children were not so lucky.
It's imperative that parents know and follow the guidelines on car seats - and it sure doesn't help to have the wrong information floating around: a keen-eyed reader wrote in last week to let us know that we had published an incorrect car-seat safety regulation - an article in our motoring section indicated that booster seats were necessary up to age eight, short by one year of the actual limit in B.C. of nine. After double-checking the guidelines listed by the BCAA Traffic Safety Foundation and ICBC, it seemed as good a time as any to offer up an overview for readers:
? Infant and rear-facing infant/child car seats are for children from birth up to at least one year and 20 pounds (but more on this in a minute);
? Forward-facing car seats are for children who are at least one year old and 20 pounds, until 40 pounds; children may remain rearfacing if allowed by the car seat's specific weight limits;
? Booster seats are for children who are at least 40 pounds, until they are nine years of age, unless they are 145 cm tall; children may remain in a forward-facing car seat with harness if allowed by the weight limit of the car seat.
Remember: just because you can move a child into the next step, doesn't mean you have to.
Consider what Transport Canada says on the issue of rear facing beyond a year: "Don't hurry. Keep your child in the rear-facing seat until he or she grows out of it. - If your child grows out of the rear-facing seat, there may be another model that will still fit your child."
Our youngest is nearly 17 months old and rearfacing for the forseeable future. My son is just over 40 pounds but in an extended weight limit harnessed forward facing seat.
There are few ways of so dramatically increasing your child's safety than in making sure they are safe in cars. For more information on B.C.'s car seat laws, see www.childseatinfo.ca or call 1-877-247-5551.
