In Texas What is the Magic Age to Let Your Kid Sit Up Front?
I remember that magical day when my daughter sat up front in the car for the first time. She knew she was big when that day came. I went back and forth wondering if I was doing the right thing.
Her friends were all sitting up front. You know how that goes. That is when you can use the magical phrase "If all of your friends jumped off a cliff, would you?" I use to hate when my mom said that.
I really don't know if those words ever came out of my mouth. Maybe so. I am sorry if they did. I understood that she was excited to start riding in front with me. She came home one weekend and ratted out her dad for already letting her.
I had to start thinking about it. I mean she was out of a booster seat. Heck she was years out of a booster seat. She was in middle school. She couldn't wait to be able to scream "Shotgun" to her friends.
Being a parent is tough. Are you making the right decisions. Nowadays you can look anything up online. So thinking back to that dilemma I decided now to see if I did the right thing back in those days.
According to the Texas DPS:
Is it legal to allow a child to ride in the front seat?
Texas law does not specify where in the vehicle a child is required to ride – BUT – the law does require that all child safety seat systems must be used according to the owner’s manuals.
Well ok....what does that mean? We know that the back seat is the safest place for babies to ride. They are not allowed in a rear facing car seat up front unless the passenger side airbag is off.
Though there is no law at all the recommendation is to keep all kids in the back seat and of course always in a seatbelt until the age of 13. That is the recommendation. So if you get pulled over and you have a kid in the front seat it is not against the law.
It is just not a good idea until they are at least 13. Of course regardless of where they are sitting they better be buckled up. If not, that of course, is against the law.
So sitting here and reading that at least I now know that moving my daughter to the front when I did was every bit legal. Whew. One more thing I know I did right as a mom.
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