Side air bags and kids in the back seat?

[TripleTransAm]

Spent some time today surfing the local government web sites to find out if there was any law dictating the minimum age for a forward-facing child seat (my second boy is growing like a weed... at 6 months, he's as tall and heavy as an average 12 month old :eek: and is at the weight and height limit for the rear-facing infant seat). One site indicated that recent automobiles offer yet another danger for young kids even in the back seat: side air bags.

Now, I don't know if they meant side air bags to protect REAR occupants (which would cause problems for young kids for the same reasons as if they sat up front) or if they are referring to the more common front-side air bags, but now I'm worried.

Has anyone come across any information about side air bags (front OR rear) and child seats? My youngest is currently occupying the center rear spot but the oldest has had to move over next to the rear door. I'm concerned.

[King Fubar]

I took a child restraint class so I could be the department "child car seat guru". Mostly they are talking about the front side airbag like we have.


The question is does our cars have the safety switch in the passenger seat that requires a certain amount of weight in it before it deploys? And if so, if the switch isn't activated will the side airbag deploy?

In any case I wouldn't worry to much about it, don't know how old the older one is but if he's 2 or older there shouldn't be a problem with him sitting in the front seat and the younger one in the center of the back.

[RCSignals]

.............................. .


The question is does our cars have the safety switch in the passenger seat that requires a certain amount of weight in it before it deploys?

As I understand, yes.





And if so, if the switch isn't activated will the side airbag deploy?


I'm not positive, but my impression is that the front side air bag is controlled in the same manner as the front airbag in this respect.

[magindat]

Unfortunately, I recently wrecked my MM, so I have first hand experience with the front and side airbags.

The side bage deploys and at it's fatest, as I remember, it was about 6 inches in from the window. Gave my wife a hell of a bag burn.

I would NOT under any circumstances put a baby seat in the front. I don't really think the airbags themselves would hurt the kid (I have a 12 yr old), but the dust from inside the bags when they blow causes MAJOR breathing difficulty.

When I wrecked, my daughter was in the back seat. Not a scratch on her. My wife and I both sufferred bag burns and the normal wreck aches and pains, but nothing major.

The moral.... chauffer the kids. They are safer in the back...especially with the shoulder belts and baby seat mounts in our cars.

Just my experience for what it's worth.....