Smarts and car seats

[lil96]

I was talkign to someone recently and in the middle of the conversation my lo started crying, and the person just kept talking so I missed half the conversation. Anyway here's what I got from it:

She has a smart car. She HAS to have a Maxi cosi. I asked why(then the baby started crying so the rest is a bit gray, just what I gathered) she said because it is the only one that has been tested with front air bags. She will have it installed by the smart car dealer.

That just doesn't make sense to me. Later after thinking about it I thought maybe she meant that the air bags can only be turned off by the dealer? but then why would she HAVe to have the maxi cosi? if she thinks it is safer better whatever that's fine.

I just don't get what she said. she was acting very know it all about the whole thing so I didn't want to ask too many questions (beforehand she was pretty much telling me my primo viaggio was completely unsafe and how dare I let my child ride in it-which the pv is rated #2 by the adac, so it can't be that unsafe)

Anyway I just wanted to see if anyone knew anything about smarts and what the proper car seat would be.

[Neatfreak]

I couldn't find any info on the Canada website for the smart fortwo, but there is a blurb on child safety (http://www.smartusa.com/smart-car-faq.aspx) on their American site:

The smart fortwo features highly efficient restraint systems that meet Mercedes-Benz's passive safety standards. Infant or children restraint systems (booster, infant or child seat) can be affixed properly to the passenger seat by means of the safety belt. A ratchet mechanism locates the tightly pulled safety belt and holds the infant/child restraint system in position. Please note that laws relating to the use and installation of infant or children restraint systems vary by jurisdiction. You will need to review the laws applicable to you prior to installing and using infant or children restraint systems in your smart fortwo.

An electronically controlled system will detect the weight of the occupant on the passenger seat or the installation of a child restraint system. The Electronic Control Unit (ECU) determines the appropriate mode of the dual stage full size front airbag deployment. For very young passengers for whom an airbag deployment could mean a serious risk, the front and side airbags will be deactivated. A control lamp in the center of the roof panel will show this clearly. Always check the control lamp to make sure the airbags are deactivated for very young passengers.

Doesn't mention anything about Maxi Cosi specifically, but I'd be interested in finding out more about whether it's really prudent to install a carseat in the front of this kind of vehicle. Is it different than other cars in how it crashes and how the airbag auto-detect works?

[QuassEE]

Mercedes, Porsche, and some other high-end car companies used to have a special set of seats made by Britax for use in their cars. They had an extra belt that came out of the seat, and plugged into a female belt buckle under the seat. This disabled the airbag.

Fast forward 10 years... The seats are now made by other companies (Maxi Cosi is one, I don't know for sure of any others) and the seats contain RF transponders that disable the airbag if the carseat is present. These seats used to be REALLY expensive--like $800 for a "Roundabout" or $350 for a "Starriser/Comfy".. I can't even imagine how expensive they are today. I'm not even sure if they're certified for use in the US or Canada, now, since they're European-market.

Here are some photos:
http://i14.ebayimg.com/01/i/000/de/01/6e27_1.JPG
http://img.epinions.com/images/opti/64/7b/kifmBaby_EquipmentCar_SeatsAllPorsche_BabySafe-resized200.jpg
(look familiar? It's a Handle With Care (was) or BabySafe (is))
Yay Epinions archive:
http://www.epinions.com/content_33779060356

I can't seem to find photos of the Roundabout or Starriser/Comfy that was branded--it has been a LONG time.

-Nicole.

[TerisBoys]

It wasn't the StarRiser/Comfy - it was the Zoom/Comfy. The Zoom was a European seat that had a depth adjustable base with the Comfy back.

I lusted after one for Josh for eons.

ETA - Here's the Porsche version on German Ebay (yes - it's filthy) - http://cgi.ebay.de/Roemer-PORSCHE-Kindersitz-Zoom-inkl-Comfy_W0QQitemZ250254165327QQihZ015QQcategoryZ3089 3QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

ETA (again) the "toddler" seat for Porsche (again - German Ebay - http://cgi.ebay.de/Original-Porsche-Kindersitz-fuer-911er-etc_W0QQitemZ320259236446QQihZ011QQcategoryZ9860QQ ssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

ETA (again x2) - Mercedes toddler seat (gotta love foreign Ebay) - http://cgi.ebay.de/Mercedes-Kindersitz-DUO-Plus-AKSE_W0QQitemZ370056076568QQihZ024QQcategoryZ47673 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I think I'm done now LOL.

[QuassEE]

I stand corrected ;) It has been a long time. The only reason I have a portion of this history is because I have a 12 year old... I thought for sure the Starriser was the US version and the Zoom was the Euro version that was released, I didn't realize that the US version was the Zoom too. It suggests that the car manufacturers were willing to jump through extra certification hoops for their branded seats, though. Unlike Schwinn/Eddie Bauer re-branding of Cosco, these were actually different seats from what was already available in the US market.

-Nicole.

[Neatfreak]

Those seats sound really interesting! Well, maybe the smart car dealership from the original post is located in Europe, and there is a special Maxi Cosi seat ...

[lil96]

yea sorry I am in EU now I gotta look at those links!