Question for Oppo:

"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
10/14/2014 at 18:58 • Filed to: None

How old were you when your parents allowed you to sit in the front seat for more than a short hop somewhere? Laws, of course, vary by state, and some of us oldsters were young in the days before air bags. (And some of you are young enough to actually remember.)

DISCUSSION (16)

Steve in Manhattan > ttyymmnn
10/14/2014 at 19:01

Denver Is Stuck In The 90s > ttyymmnn
10/14/2014 at 19:03

My story on this issue is a little weird. My grandma always had cars with no passenger side airbag, so I always sat in the front with her. But I am 100% Growth hormone deficient, so I didnt reach 4'9" until I was 15 (Thanks to growth hormone injections). I needed a booster seat well into middle school. So I wasnt allowed in the front seat until I was 15, it kinda sucked.

Dukie - Jalopnik Emergency Management Asshole > ttyymmnn
10/14/2014 at 19:03

I've had my 8 year old daughter in the front seat of both Grimace & Aces for semi-long trips (20+ miles). Mind you, these were both 1981 Celicas, so airbags were not an issue, and she was in an appropriate booster seat.

vdub_nut: scooter snob > ttyymmnn
10/14/2014 at 19:04

12 or 13. Probably once or twice before that (backseat full of 2x4's or something), but nothing I can remember.

I used to enjoy the back seat, felt like I was being chauffeured.

camaroboy68ss > ttyymmnn
10/14/2014 at 19:04

I was 3 or 4 when I used sit in my dads lap

Hahayoustupidludditeshutupandgohandcrankyourmodeltalready > ttyymmnn
10/14/2014 at 19:06

10-11.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > ttyymmnn
10/14/2014 at 19:06

No idea. Probably like 4-5. This would be in a '74 Benz 240D, so I fart in the general direction of "airbags".

vdub_nut: scooter snob > Steve in Manhattan
10/14/2014 at 19:07

Kinja'd!!!

jariten1781 > ttyymmnn
10/14/2014 at 19:07

Well, all the trucks only had front benches...so, um, probably a tenth of a year or something. It's certainly before memory.

Gamecat235 > ttyymmnn
10/14/2014 at 19:16

Dunno, but I would regularly sit in the back of the station wagon pretending I was a tail gunner when I was like 5 or 6.

Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ > ttyymmnn
10/14/2014 at 19:17

around 3-4 for sitting in my dads lap. About 8 when i was proficient at driving a full size automobile. Helps growing up in the country where your not going to get pulled over or anything. My parents had me drive their truck when I was 8 in the hay fields so they could load while I drove to then next bale.

Chuck 2(O=[][]=O)2 > ttyymmnn
10/14/2014 at 19:20

I think 6 or 7 was the age for me. But, my dad had a truck that was full of so many tools that there was only room in the front seat. Also rode in the back of a pickup and lived to talk about it.

EL_ULY > ttyymmnn
10/14/2014 at 19:24

I didn't do that first. My dad played baseball at various parks around the city on Saturdays (amateur league). We had a early 90's Taurus and once everyone left the park, he let the 9 year old ULY and my 12 year old brother drive around the empty outfield. I was first lol. My dad sat in the passenger seat and my brother was just in the back seat somewhere. I just barely pressed the accl. pedal and was super happy. I made it up to 20mph then my dad said to stop..... slammed on the brake.... my brother goes flying and his face hits the radio/AC controls LOL!!! He was fine and asked if it was hit turn now :]

Agrajag > ttyymmnn
10/14/2014 at 20:53

I remember this vividly. My Mother wouldn't allow children to sit in the front until they were four. I reached this milestone in 1988. Her car was a 1970ish Ford Maverick with lap belts only.

My Father on the other hand couldn't give a rats ass. I remember my two older brothers sitting in the tailgate of our old Datsun pickup. My Dad adjusted the windshield nozzles so they would get sprayed. Good times.

My Father was clearly the more careless one.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > ttyymmnn
10/14/2014 at 21:52

Can't recall for myself, but I've started letting my oldest sit in the front if I've got all three in the car with me (just on trips from school to home on city streets - the airbag deactivates at his weight), and he's 7.

I do remember riding on the back of my dad's moped a few times around that same age...

The Compromiser > ttyymmnn
10/14/2014 at 22:47

4.dad's lap. School bus full of kids. African Lion Safari parking lot. I drove.

I've been in a burnout in a coach and drifted a school bus ( not very far and empty).

My father once parallel parked a coach at an airport with cabs around him and bareley enough room. RCMP officer walked over leaned out to look down the bus, gave him a thumbs up and ticketed the cab drivers.

when I was 3 or 4 I believe. On the bench, between parents. My sister and I ended up under the dash of a Pacer once. My mom totalled a light blue Pacer. Sha! Way.

(I am pre-airbag if you hadn't figured it out. No not Rush Limbaugh. )