OHTA.ca

Good morning everybody.

Does anybody know when a child should be allowed to sit in the front seat of a car?

I tried looking around for answers but nobody has a definite answer.

I've heard different answers ranging from age 8 to age 14.

I know air bags can cause serious injury to children and sometimes it can be fatal.

However I can't find any law that sets out the guidelines.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

There is no law restricting children of any age from riding in the front. They do have to be in the correct type of seat, etc. and that may preclude the front seat in some scenarios.

Certainly it's not the safest position, but if such a law existed you would not be legally able to transport a child in a vehicle with only one row of seats (e.g. standard pickup, sports car).

Not necessarily true. You can't have a booster seat child in the front where there is an airbag unless your vehicle allows for them to be disabled. Some cars will disable them automatically depending the weight on the seat. The same does not apply to a car seat.

Regulation 613:

(8) Despite subsections (7) and (7.1), a pre-school to primary grade child shall not be secured in a seating position if the seating position has a front air bag that has not been turned off or cannot be turned off. O. Reg. 195/05, s. 1; O. Reg. 236/09, s. 2 (9).

8. (1) Passengers under eight years old are classified as follows for the purposes of this section:

1. Children weighing less than nine kilograms are classified as infants.

2. Children weighing nine kilograms or more but less than 18 kilograms are classified as toddlers.

3. Children weighing 18 kilograms or more but less than 36 kilograms and who are less than 145 centimetres tall are classified as pre-school to primary grade children. O. Reg. 195/05, s. 1.

This was a great question, my son keeps bugging me about riding in the front seat and I tell him NO.

But the truth is I had no idea when he would be allowed in the front "legally" although even if he was, I would not let him ride in the front anyway.

Thank you bend for the info.

I just like one clarification, does section 3 mean that if the kid is over 145 cm tall and over 36 Kg, he/she can ride in the front seat, even if the air bag can not be disabled? Am I understanding this correctly?

Observer135 wrote:I just like one clarification, does section 3 mean that if the kid is over 145 cm tall and over 36 Kg, he/she can ride in the front seat, even if the air bag can not be disabled? Am I understanding this correctly?

You almost got it right.

Once a child graduates from a booster seat, there's no more restrictions and they can use any seat with just a belt.

Kids restricted to booster seats have to fall under ALL three categories:

• Under 8 years of age
• Between 18 kilograms and 36 kilograms
• Less than 145 centimetres tall

Once the child exceeds ANY of these categories, they can ditch the booster. They don't have to wait until they are over 36kg if they are already over 145cm. As long as they can wear a seat belt properly, there's nothing stopping them at this point.

@bend: Good correction! I didn't think of that case as both my single-row vehicles are old i.e. before passenger side air bags.

ya it's the height and the weight, when my son was 9 he weights 46kgs 5'5 tall, cops asked why your son sitting on a car seat ? then he told me about car seat laws thats how i know, Cops in Toronto are nice. Now my son is 12 and he weight 65kgs and 5'8 tall i'm only 69kg and 5'9