Car seat/booster in highest position and touching side pillar

[niccig]

Are car seats and boosters allowed to touch the side pillar when the restraint headrest is in the top position?

We test drove 2 cars today, and in both the Mazda 5 and the Honda CRV, our safeguard at the highest setting touched the side pillar. The CRV had an airbag stamp on the pillar. The Mazda 5 didn't have the stamp on that pillar but the specs say it has side air curtains on all rows. The CRV has install in middle position, but then I would see nothing in the rear view mirror.

I'm also thinking ahead to when we're in a booster full time, I know some of those are very tall as well.

So, can it touch or not?

Thanks.

[Defrost]

Where was the Safeguard in the Mazda5? We've been completely unable to install it adequately in the 3rd row because it doesn't allow any overhang, and the SafeGuard doesn't touch at all in the 2nd row in my car. :scratcheshead:

[joolsplus3]

Oooh, good question! I let mine touch in the third row of my van, but there's no airbag there:o

[niccig]

Where was the Safeguard in the Mazda5? We've been completely unable to install it adequately in the 3rd row because it doesn't allow any overhang, and the SafeGuard doesn't touch at all in the 2nd row in my car. :scratcheshead:


It was installed in the passenger outboard. I had the headrest on the top setting to see if it would touch. The top left of the car seat just touched the pillar/roof. It touched more in the CRV.

Sigh, we're going back and forth over these two cars and we have different cons with both. Ideally I would love a CRV and a Mazda 5 to have a child :p

[Defrost]

It was installed in the passenger outboard. I had the headrest on the top setting to see if it would touch. The top left of the car seat just touched the pillar/roof. It touched more in the CRV.


That's really weird - 2nd row, right? I couldn't even make it touch in my car. I just went and double-checked, and there's a good 2-3" gap between the carseat and the window, and even with the vehicle seat all the way back it's not close to the pillar. I didn't think they'd re-designed the body in the '08s, but maybe that's it?

[niccig]

I wonder if the difference was 2007 v 2008 model. Or, I'm not sure where I had the 2nd row seat positioned. It may have been all the way back. I didn't think about that for either the CRV or the Mazda5, the seats move forwards/back, so maybe adjusting that a little could make a difference depending on how the roof curves. I need to go back and see and read the car manuals - we had DS with us. We're still going back and forth over the cars. We like both, but they're different and we have to see which will work best for us.

[niccig]

Oh Defrost, do you know where the back side airbag comes from? On the model we looked at they had the SRS stamp on the pillar by the passenger, but no such marking on the pillar by the 2nd row seats. I know it has full side coverage. The car guy couldn't answer that for us either. Probably no one has ever asked before.

[Defrost]

Hm, that's odd that they changed where the airbag signs are. Mine has one on each pillar between the front windshield and the front doors, and another on each pillar between the sliding door and the 3rd row. My manual even has a picture of the curtain air bags deploying all the way back to the third row, with three little heads hitting it - it's actually kind of amusing.

Have you considered contacting the carseat manufacturer with this question? I'm curious what they'd say.

[niccig]

I will call safeguard - didn't think of this. Plus, I need to go back and sit with the manual and READ it re airbags and car seats. Actually, I want to get an overnight test drive of both cars. I'll call around and see if I can arrange that, then I can take as long as I like playing with car seats and manual.

DH is already annoyed, we looked at the CRV first and after the issues I had with the car seat and pillar in that car, when we got to Mazda he told the guy that if the car seat didn't fit, we wouldn't be buying it. Too right. My car, and my priority is DS's safety. The Mazda guy immediately jumped in to help install it and talked to ME about the car. The Honda guy nearly fell off his chair when we were inside the dealer (trying to pressure to buy that day) when he realized it would be MY car, as he spent all the time talking to DH.

[niccig]

I called Safeguard - they say their seat is finebeside a side airbag. I asked about the headrest touching the side pillar and she said they didn't go into specifics of where the seat could/couln't touch. I called Honda and they said it was fine as the side curtain airbag doesn't come out with the same force as a front airbag or the side airbags in the front seats. I played with the cars and adjust the seat forward slightly fixes the problem, so that's what I'll do if we get either of these cars.

[Jacks]

Our SG touches the side airbag in my VW Passat wagon. When I called SG the CS rep told me that it could touch the side of the vehicle as long as there were no side airbags in that spot. :confused: I thought we might not be able to use our SG even in hubby's car because when we move it up it will touch the airbag there as well. Confusing.

[niccig]

I agree, confusing. I also think it's a question that doesn't really get asked. If I call back to Safeguard or Honda, I'll probably get a different answer. For safety sake, I'm not going to let the headrest touch the side of the car. DS will go center and as he gets older, I may have to move him to the outboard as I won't be able to see out the back at all. If I do move him, I'm going to move the vehicle seat forward so it doesn't touch. My DS has a short torso, so it will be years before I have to worry about this. I would keep doing what you are doing and not let the seat touch where the airbag will come from.

[Jacks]

I agree. I wonder if the SG headrest touching the seat where there is an airbag could keep the airbag from deploying properly? In the center position in my car the SG is too tall in the second to top slot. I can't see out the rear window. Hoopefully you won't have that problem.

[niccig]

"I wonder if the SG headrest touching the seat where there is an airbag could keep the airbag from deploying properly?"


I did some reading on side airbags, and what I can work out is that the side bags in the front passenger are different to the side curtain airbags in the back seat. I read that many cars, and I was told by a Honda rep who seemed to know her stuff, that if the front passenger leans up against the door, new side airbags turn off until the person moves off the door because the front side bags pop out with some force, and that side curtain roll down from the roof with less force. But my current car manual (subaru) says to not put anything between you and the side airbag (doesn't distinguish btw front passenger or back passenger) and to keep children properly restrained so they don't get out of position. Until there is more information about this, I'll position the car seat so it doesn't touch the side pillar.

[Defrost]

I'm wondering if it's something that's considered "okay" because it's part of the carseat that's touching, not someone's head. As in, if the head is there, it could be injured by the deploying airbag, but a carseat is just going to get shoved aside, because the side curtain airbag doesn't deploy with the same amount of force as a frontal airbag?

I dunno, I'm just speculating. Don't we have a member whose dh is a mechanic and replaces airbags? (Is it Azgirl?) Maybe he'd have more insight.