Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate • Hacker News Board

Re: Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate

#281

Post by sneak » Thu, Dec 17, 2020, 4:11 AM UTC

dmm wrote: post #223

sneak wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Out of curiosity: why do you ride without a helmet?

Do you wear a helmet while driving a car? Head injuries are a top cause of death in vehicle accidents something that helmets would significantly reduce. The truth is that you never even considered wearing a helmet while drivi g because driving is an ordinary activity that doesn't seem to require special equipment. In places where cycling is an ordinary activity people feel the same. It's not about statistics or the a…

Your comment seems to presuppose that I am advocating for helmet-wearing, when I have done no such thing.

Re: Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate

#282

Post by sitkack » Thu, Dec 17, 2020, 4:12 AM UTC

Good!

Re: Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate

#283

Post by zetazzed » Thu, Dec 17, 2020, 4:14 AM UTC

ynniv wrote: post #262

irateswami wrote: post #15

This is an actual conversation I had to have with my wife, having a third kid definitely requires a larger vehicle as the vast majority of cars today simply don't work for a family of five. Child car seats are too wide and the backseats of most cars are too narrow, and the price jump to a vehicle that would be able to handle three child car seats at once is enormous. Throw in some dogs, a couple pieces of luggage tha…

I replaced my 3-series BMW with a Honda Odyssey, and I've spent two years singing its praises. Part of the problem is that we have created a culture that uses cars as a form of self expression, and many early parents aren't ready to "be" a minivan. But the minivan is what you actually want as a parent: room for six people of any size, or four people and at least twice as much cargo as an SUV, with safe, remote contro…

When my wife and I were discussing whether to have a third kid, the "we can justify a minivan now" argument was a big push in favor!

If you think it's uncool, just remember -- if you buy a sports car, there is always someone out there with a cooler sports car. But you can buy THE BEST minivan in the world for ~$40k. Minivans also tend to go heavy on tech and comfort features relative to their price point. Yes, they suck to parallel park in the city, but 360 cameras and ultrasonics have made that much easier than it used to be. Really recommended!

Re: Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate

#284

Post by phobosanomaly » Thu, Dec 17, 2020, 4:16 AM UTC

sneak wrote: post #118

Analemma_ wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems to be very rarely enforced. I ride in Seattle without a helmet all the time and have never had a problem.

Out of curiosity: why do you ride without a helmet?

Because I have a narrow head and they make me look like a dork.

Re: Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate

#285

Post by gwbas1c » Thu, Dec 17, 2020, 4:16 AM UTC

Child #3 is about to be born any day now.

I was shocked to learn that we just can't get three car seats into the back of our Model 3.

Fortunately the other vehicle is a minivan, but the rear row can seat 3 without car seats, or two with car seats. This means we can no longer fit grandparents with all kids.

Re: Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate

#286

Post by lotsofpulp » Thu, Dec 17, 2020, 4:18 AM UTC

Forbo wrote: post #219

notsureaboutpg wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US, elderly people have Medicare, so why is this happening?

I vouched for your comment, because I'm also curious. What healthcare costs is Medicare not covering?

Medicare pays primarily for emergency hospitalization scenarios (referred to as Part A). Anything that happens outside of a hospital stay (called outpatient services) and medications come from Parts B, C, and D. Coverage for parts B, C, and D is insanely complicated and involves some means testing and who knows what else. There’s private health insurers involved too, and if you can’t afford that, then you can go to the state’s Medicaid, which is also means tested.

The whole thing makes you want to kill yourself, which might be the objective.

Re: Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate

#287

Post by lsllc » Thu, Dec 17, 2020, 4:20 AM UTC

cialowicz wrote: post #269

lsllc wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alright, don't leave me hanging -- which Volkswagen?

My guess would be the Passat.

My family had a VW Passat in the late 80's, lots of fond memories.

I'll even give a pass to the neighborhood kids who stole the VW badge (yay Beastie Boys!) ....... You know you're out there ... you might now be the CFO for a mid-size logistics company specializing in a modern, flexible forward-thinking unrivaled logistics service but back then my dad was NOT happy that morning when he discovered the badge was missing.

Re: Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate

#288

Post by pandaman » Thu, Dec 17, 2020, 4:24 AM UTC

ashtonkem wrote: post #270

pandaman wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You assume any SUV is automatically the size of Suburban so you skipped over CR-V and RAV4, which should be just under the tucks in any best selling vehicles list? They do not have much more passenger room than a Civic (more headroom but the size and distance between the seats is basically the same). A "compact SUV" is a thing.

There are plenty of car seats that’ll fit 3 across in a CR-V. There are plenty that’ll go 3 across in a civic , although the lack of trunk space for strollers would obviously be an issue with three children. You can’t buy any random car seat, of course, but an ounce of up front research will help you pick one that’ll fit. I find it kind of perplexing how many people pretend that you simply cannot put 3 child seats in…

The problem is that you don't just put child seats into the car for fun - you are supposed to put children in them too. Children are not going to teleport in and out and they need to crawl/be put in their seats. The middle seat will be a hard reach in a compact.

Re: Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate

#289

Post by iaw » Thu, Dec 17, 2020, 4:30 AM UTC

zetazzed wrote: post #283

ynniv wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I replaced my 3-series BMW with a Honda Odyssey, and I've spent two years singing its praises. Part of the problem is that we have created a culture that uses cars as a form of self expression, and many early parents aren't ready to "be" a minivan. But the minivan is what you actually want as a parent: room for six people of any size, or four people and at least twice as much cargo as an SUV, with safe, remote contro…

When my wife and I were discussing whether to have a third kid, the "we can justify a minivan now" argument was a big push in favor! If you think it's uncool, just remember -- if you buy a sports car, there is always someone out there with a cooler sports car. But you can buy THE BEST minivan in the world for ~$40k. Minivans also tend to go heavy on tech and comfort features relative to their price point. Yes, they s…

My problem with minivans (as opposed to good sports cars) is that they drive like crap. I have never encountered (or heard of) a van that drove well with one exception [1]

[1] I remember reading about a volkswagen bus that had been modified heavily with Porsche components to the point it could drive and accelerate better than any van had a right to.

Re: Child-safety laws may reduce the birth rate

#290

Post by geoduck14 » Thu, Dec 17, 2020, 4:34 AM UTC

Someone1234 wrote: post #57

war1025 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We ended up buying Diono Radian carseats [1], which are marketed as "the 3-across car seat" We can fit our three kids in the back of our Honda Civic perfectly well. But we've had exactly the same conversation. In order to have a fourth kid, we'd need to swap out our vehicles. House is fine, insurance is fine, income is fine, but we'd need to upgrade vehicles, and that seems to be just enough friction to make the idea…

The Radian is definitely king of three across. But they're premium priced ($200 each, or $600 for three), and sacrifice comfort particularly for longer trips. In general people who have never had kids don't seem to grasp that the average (non-Radian) car-seat is BIGGER than an adult side-to-side. The Radian series has a niche because they produced a car-seat the same size as an adult (with no loss of safety), but had…

As a new parent, I was surprised how much space a kid took up. I didn't know about Radian car seats - we did Graco. We also upgraded to an SUV (Honda Pilot), and then a minivan (Pacifica) to hold all of our kids. The cars were expensive. As young adults, with small incomes, having to buy large vehicles was a punch to the gut.