For DH - can someone explain why center position in Civic is not good for booster....

[Kat.]

This is a follow-up to my question about whether the L or R side is safer for booster position (thanks again for responses to that).

However, DH is still not convinced that the center position is not safest for booster placement. Safety techs on the Car Chat board said that the slight bump in the Civic (ours is a 2001, not 2000, as I posted below, if that makes a difference) makes center placement inadvisable (reduces safety because it's not as secure).

I can't explain it to DH any better than that.

With all of the techno-speak you can muster, can anyone explain why a side position is safer for Monterey booster placement than the center?

Thanks!!!

~K.

[LISmama810]

I don't know how technical I can be about it, because it's not really a technical issue--it's a matter of common sense.

If you can get the booster in the center, and it sits flat and doesn't tip with your child in it, then there's no problem. However, if the bump causes the booster to wobble, that's not an ideal situation.

I'm not familiar enough with boosters in Civics to be able to tell you if the bump always/sometimes/rarely causes a problem.

One other thing to consider: If you're going to LATCH the Monterey, technically you're not allowed to do so in the center of a Civic since it doesn't have its own dedicated LATCH anchors. Since the anchors are only holding the weight of the seat, and not the weight of the child, a lot of people would probably make the decision to LATCH it anyway, but I don't know if that's technically allowed. Perhaps someone else will have more information on that.

[lorismurph]

I was just looking online for some pictures of the center seat. Several of the 2001 Civics do not even have lap/shoulder combos in the center which would make it impossible for a booster to be properly placed there. If you do have lap/shoulder belts, the "hump" did look to be rather large and I doubt you could get any booster to sit flat on top of it without tipping. You could try a booster there and see though, just to prove it will not work well.

[LISmama810]

Oh, I didn't even notice the year of the Civic.

We had a 2002 that had a shoulder belt in the center, but yes, that's an excellent point: You MUST have a lap-shoulder belt to use a booster.

An 00/01 Civic also won't have LATCH, so you can disregard my point about that.

[Kat]

for school drop-off, also so DD always exits on sidewalk side.

I appreciate your feedback and advice!

~Kat.