Captain chairs safe for a carseat?

donpappagiorgio · Sep 30, 2009

Hello,

My wife and I are in a market for a new vehicle. We've finally narrowed it down to a GMC Yukon. Well the dilemma that we have is that the trim package we want only offers captains chairs behind the front seats. My wife thinks that they are unsafe. Is there a place to show her that the captains chairs are safe for a 1 year old.

Thanks in advance,
Joe

LuvBug · Oct 5, 2009

sorry it took a while to approve this.

I don't know of any online resources that prove captains chairs are safe, so hopefully someone else will see this!

Minnesota · Oct 5, 2009

Is there a reason she believes they are unsafe? As far as my knowledge goes, they behave no differently in a crash than a typical bench seat.

Just be sure to install your one year old's seat securely, in a rear-facing position to provide the best protection.

Guest · Oct 5, 2009

Why would they be any less safe than a bench?

If benches were inherently safer somehow, wouldn't we all have benches in the front seat areas?

childpassengersafety · Oct 5, 2009

Hi,

As I'm sure you know, there are MANY factors that affect the safety of a vehicle. To answer your specific question, the only thing I could recall was a study done by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, comparing the risk of minivans to SUV's, where they cite another study that suggests that captain's chairs may offer a seat and seat belt geometry that may provide better protection over bench seating. Here's the link, see the last sentence in the 3rd paragraph of the discussion:

http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/15/1/8

Big picture, captain's chairs are very safe, as is bench seating.

More importantly, of course, is that your one year old is riding rear facing in a car seat that fits properly in your car, is installed correctly, and is used correctly each and every ride. There are lots of people on here that can help you with these aspects, too.

Good luck with your car shopping!

gecikuh · Oct 5, 2009

You may want to check out this link while car shopping too:
www.informedforlife.org

But I don't think you are going to find much information to say that captains chairs are safe or unsafe.
As previous posters have said, the most important thing for your 1 yr old's safety is that he or she is riding in a properly installed rearfacing seat.

Brigitte · Apr 18, 2022

childpassengersafety said:
Hi,

As I'm sure you know, there are MANY factors that affect the safety of a vehicle. To answer your specific question, the only thing I could recall was a study done by Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, comparing the risk of minivans to SUV's, where they cite another study that suggests that captain's chairs may offer a seat and seat belt geometry that may provide better protection over bench seating. Here's the link, see the last sentence in the 3rd paragraph of the discussion:

http://injuryprevention.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/15/1/8

Big picture, captain's chairs are very safe, as is bench seating.

More importantly, of course, is that your one year old is riding rear facing in a car seat that fits properly in your car, is installed correctly, and is used correctly each and every ride. There are lots of people on here that can help you with these aspects, too.

Good luck with your car shopping!

This article disscusses mini van vs SUV for safety not bench vs captains chair.

Captain chairs safe for a carseat?

donpappagiorgio

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Minnesota

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