Family thinks I'm being extra for insisting on a car seat for a 10 minute drive, still not budging
"It's just down the road", "hold her tight, she'll be fine", "she's crying, take her out and put her on your lap" — heard all three in the same car ride to a relative's place 10 minutes away. Still buckled her into the car seat every single time and will keep doing it.
Car seat use is genuinely low here compared to how normal it is elsewhere, and I think it's purely because most people never see one used, not because anyone's being careless on purpose. A 10 minute drive is exactly when most local accidents happen, it's not a highway-only precaution.
Practical stuff if you're shopping for one: buy by your baby's current weight, not by the age printed on the box, the age is a rough guideline and weight limits are what actually matter for the harness to work properly. Rear-facing as long as the seat allows, longer than feels necessary, is the safer default. And whatever seat you get, actually check the install is tight, less than an inch of movement side to side at the belt path, most incorrect installs are a loose base, not a bad seat. The crying in the car seat does stop being a daily battle after the first couple of weeks, for us it genuinely got easier once it became routine instead of a negotiation every time.