When should we let our kids ride in the front seat of our cars?

My 9-year-old daughter has been bothering me for quite some time about wanting to sit in the front seat of my car. My response was always “no, it’s against the law.” I assume at this age they think it’s cooler to sit in the front than the back.

When I was a kid, I do seem to remember trying to yell “shotgun” before my brother or sister did as we ran to get into my mom’s car. Our problem back then was that mom actually drove a Buick station wagon, and the front seat didn’t really help in the cool department.

After my daughter asked me for the 10th time, I decided it was time to show her the law. However, to my surprise, there is no law in New York that requires a child to be of a certain age to sit in the front seat. I did find New York State’s Seat Belt Law brochure which states, “For maximum protection, children under the age of 12 should sit in the rear seat of the vehicle.” So for now, this is the “law” in our house, because airbags deploy at around 240 miles per hour, causing serious injuries to young kids. That’s definitely not cool.