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[Closed] Child seat in front of car?
If you have a child seat in the front of the car, should you turn the air bag off?
The only law I can find is that if it's a rear facing seat (for a small baby) then the bag needs switching off. What about a front facing seat for an older kid?
Anyone do this regularly? I had to put the wee man in the front the other day on a trip to the tip and it seemed a lot better. We could talk and he gets to look out the windscreen (he's 2 and a bit). Interested to hear if people think this is a stupid idea or not.
Rear seat is safer. That's good enough for me.
I leave it on as I thought it was only for rear facing seats [ little drawing shows these and a cross. Agree it is better...... till they start touching things and learn to turn the radio on and off and try to change gear. I cant se what harm it will do perhaps the side ones are nearer their ear height and may damage them?
5. Can I use a forward-facing child seat or booster in a seat fitted with an active air-bag?
Check what your car handbook says about children in seats with frontal air bags, as this can vary from car to car. We strongly recommend that you follow the advice given by your car manufacturer and also that the seat of the car should be as far back as possible from an air bag.
from
http://www.dft.gov.uk/think/focusareas/children/childincar?page=FAQ
bet your manufacturer will sit on the fence as well
EDIT:
Rear seat is safer. That's good enough for me
Evidence is this going to be like helmets and rotational injuries 😉
Seriously is that true? Link?
Again I always opt for the rear seat, I'm pretty sure the hand book that came with ouf Britax (about an inch thick) said alway turn the air bag off. Logically as the air bag is designed for 95th percentile adults I wouldn't expect it to do junior much good in a smash.
Good point but is it worse than the alternative ie no air bag? I have kids I do actually care I am not trolling. One sits in the front and I will be stopping if it is riskier than the back or switching the air bag off.
Rear seat is safer. That's good enough for me.
Doesn't that rather depend on where any accident impact is?
Its not recommended to fit one in the drivers seat.
Saw a programme about this a few years back. A bloke had a 10mph fender bender which set the bags off, his daughter who was about 8 years old was killed by the air bag, very sad.
I only turn the air bag off for rear facing seats.
I don't think a kid in a car seat would come anywhere near the airbag zone. Unless maybe the seat broke - which it could - in which case the airbag would be useful I think.
The issue with rear facing seats is that they can come close to the dash, and if the airbag goes off it can smack them in the back of the head, which causes worse injuries than the crash you may be having.
I did see a tv programme a while ago about older kids of 5-12 or so being killed by airbags in the States. They'd be leaning forwards to change the radio station or whatever and with their heads closer to the airbags the shock would kill them. However the conclusion was that it wasn't an issue in the UK because our airbags aren't as powerful.
I reckon it'd be okay - not as safe as the rear, but you have to balance that with the kid's enjoyment and development.
I did see a tv programme a while ago about older kids of 5-12 or so being killed by airbags in the States. They'd be leaning forwards to change the radio station or whatever and with their heads closer to the airbags the shock would kill them. However the conclusion was that it wasn't an issue in the UK because our airbags aren't as powerful.
im always supprised you dont see more short people (women in particular) getting injured by airbags as you see so many of them practically sitting on the steering wheel, with their seat jammed right forward and up!
My mate set his air bag off when he took off in his Scooby. Never bothered re-setting it as didn't find the air bag very comfortable...!
As the muffin man says, got piled into a month ago with my son in the car, he was sitting in the front fortunately, it was only about a 25 mph impact but still enough to cave in the whole of the rear boot. The rear seats were intact however but he definately would have had some injuries. All he got was a slightly sore shoulder from the seatbelt.
Air bags did not deploy though, and the car was written off 🙁
In the front seat, i don't think the airbag will provide much benefit as child seats have a harness restraint, and may cause mild-moderate injuries (burns etc, we often see these on drivers arms) if the child seat puts the kiddie up close to the dash. I turn mine off if putting little ones in the front seat, and prefer the back seats whenever possible.
im always supprised you dont see more short people (women in particular) getting injured by airbags as you see so many of them practically sitting on the steering wheel, with their seat jammed right forward and up!
It does say you have to be 20cm clear of the centre of the steering wheel, for this reason.
I can't turn the air bag off in mine without an expensive trip to the dealer for a 5p resister to be fitted accross the plug (Octavia, the STW car of choice if anyone's interested) But the handbook says that it's fine to put forward facing seats in as long as the seat is all the way back so it's out of range of the airbag.