A child is 7 years old and 4 feet 10 inches tall riding in a Texas car equipped with safety belts. According to the manual, what does the law require?
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A.
The child may ride wearing the vehicle's safety belt. Correct
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B.
The child may ride without any safety belt or car seat.
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C.
The child must ride in a federally approved child car seat.
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D.
The child must use a booster until reaching age 8.
The answer is "The child may ride wearing the vehicle's safety belt."
Texas requires a child under 8 to ride in a federally approved child car seat, but the same sentence carves out an exception once the child measures more than 4'9". At 4'10", the height exception applies and the vehicle's safety belt satisfies the rule. Drivers who pick C stop reading at 'under 8' and never notice the height carve-out at the end of the same sentence.
The traps in the wrong answers
B. The child may ride without any safety belt or car seat.
Removes all restraint duty; the safety belt itself is still required for any occupant. This answer reads the car seat exception as an exemption from wearing a safety belt entirely.
C. The child must ride in a federally approved child car seat.
Anchors on the age-8 rule and skips the height exception printed at the end of the same sentence. This answer applies the age threshold and skips the exception, because most car seat rules learners hear cite age alone.
D. The child must use a booster until reaching age 8.
Adds a booster requirement the Texas manual does not print for children over 4'9". This answer carries a booster-seat rule over from another state's occupant protection statute.
This question tests your knowledge of Safety Belts & Restraints in Texas. Source: Texas Driver Manual, "Safety Belts," p.64..
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