In Colorado, the law for how long a kid has to have a booster seat to sit in is until age 6 or reaching a height of 55 inches. Katherine qualifies for the first (and given that she’s only 48 inches tall and no slouch, I can’t imagine many kids qualifying for the second before they hit 6).
The rules are a bit different in California, where her cousins are now sans booster. Over the holidays, she was constantly weighing herself to see if she fit the California rules (which I believe mandate at least 60 lbs. weight; Colorado’s rules don’t mention that). I did a bit of research, then, to see if that would be an okay idea for Katherine.
Note that the point of a booster seat is not providing restraint per se, but to position the kid so that the seat belt (including the shoulder belt) fits correctly. Nationally recommended (by safety experts) standards are a lot broader than state-level standards, often pushing for a minimum of 57 inches (taller than a number of adults I know) and suggesting kids stay in booster seats until ages 8-10 (which seems a bit excessive). This flier, while a bit juvenile, gives a nice rubric to use — can the kid’s legs drape over the front of the seat if their butt is against the back? If not, use a booster. (It also has another note of advice I’ve seen echoed elsewhere — if the kid’s too squiggly still to keep their belt on, or positioned correctly, a booster seat is still a good idea.)
*sigh* I remember as a child (a) when rear lap belts were an optional add-on, (b) how disappointed I was when my folks got them, and (c) how they used to yell at us to not loosen them all the way so that we could peer through the middle of the seats.
It occurs to me that last bit speaks to another advantage that booster seats have for kids — elevating them up a number of inches, letting them see the surroundings. Though, to be honest, Katherine has gotten to an age when she’s starting to read in the car (huzzah), so that’s become, oddly, less of an issue.
At any rate, I tried the leg-dangling thing and she didn’t qualify, so she’ll be staying in the booster seat as a “best practice” — though if through some circumstance she ends up in a car without one, I won’t worry quite as much.
UPDATE: Regardless of the booster seat thang, seat belts are, law or not, non-negotiable. In my car, you buckle up.
Coincidentally, this video got forwarded around the IT management circuit today as a safety recommendation.