Hi moms, my family is planning a road trip from Texas to Michigan in a few weeks. We are buying an RV and driving it to my parents'. We want to bring 5 kids in carseats and I am finding it hard to find any concrete data and laws for the states we will be driving through. So, maybe you all can help!
Can a forward-facing carseat be secured in a sideways seat? Must I use the tether strap to secure the seats as there are no tether strap anchors (not LATCH- the top ones) anywhere in the RV? At what age/height/weight can my children not ride in a carseat anymore for the following states: Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Without doing any research I would say that a forward facing seat is useless in a sideways positioned seat. It may not be illegal to put the seat/kid in it but I would try to avoid it if at all possible.
Maybe the RV manufacturer has some information or can sell you some accessories that help secure the car seats to the seats, the floor or anywhere?
This website gives you all the info, in a chart form, state by state. Hope this helps!
http://www.elitecarseats.com/custserv/custserv.jsp?pageNa...
Oklahoma is 6 yrs. old. From what I found on the internet seatbelts in motor homes aren't bolted to anything except plywood and they are not safe for carseats at all. I would call the manufacturer of the motor home and ask them about the safety of car seats.
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Anyway, here is a link to a place that checks state sites for their carseat laws and then posts them, they may be out of date so you'll need to click on the state to make sure they haven't changed.
http://www.elitecarseats.com/custserv/custserv.jsp?pageNa...
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I didn't look at the pictures they were talking about because they said down further they weren't good to look at. But anyway they say that motor homes aren't safe for kids unless they are up front.
http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?t=75015
In Texas kids must be in forward facing car seat until 40 lbs (backward facing if they are under 1 or less than 20lbs). They must be in a booster seat (high back or no back) until they are 8 unless they are 4'9" tall.
