Is this a problem? Need some help

Hi all :happy-wavehello:

My son is 2 yrs 8 mos, 38" tall and about 35 lbs, though I'd have to double check on that to be sure. He is currently RF in a Radian XTSL, which I spent a lot of time researching (mostly on this site) a few months back and decided on because I knew he would outgrow his ETA sooner RF. His height is more in his torso than his legs, but I don't know his torso height right now.

We've been really happy with the arrangement with him in his XTSL, and we love the seat, but my concern is with our car. We have a '98 Honda Civic. The problem is that RF in the center of the backseat, the XTSL rests on our front seats. If I remember correctly, this is okay for the Radian itself, right? I just want to make sure I have that correct before anything else because if that's not even okay, then nothing else matters and we can't use this seat RF in this car.

But as far as it resting on the driver and front passenger seats goes, I believe I had read that this can be a problem because it can possibly interfere with the airbags. I think I also read (on here) that it depends on the car and that some may allow for it - so I checked all over the manual, but didn't find a single thing regarding this.

How do we know about a car that is this old? Does anyone even specifically know about a '98 Civic? My DH is under the impression that it's probably fine, because his thought is that the car is older and probably isn't so advanced that something braced against the seat is going to affect the airbag. (I hope that makes sense - I understand what he's saying but it sounds better coming from him.) But we don't know for sure.

This is where the problem is...I would love to keep DS RF longer and I know he's safest that way. I don't want to have to turn him yet if we don't need to. However I also have to think of our whole family's safety. I don't know if we've been driving around with DH and I not being safe because our airbags may not deploy. If this is a problem with our seats and airbags, then I think I have no choice but to turn DS FF...? There's definitely no way we can always have both seats far enough forward that the car-seat doesn't touch them. For one thing I don't even think our seats go that far forward, plus DH also can't fit to drive if his seat is that far up. Also, I am 14 weeks pregnant so I'll be needing to sit as far back as I can. Again, just trying to think of the whole family's safety KWIM?

I'm sorry this has gotten so long...if anyone has ANY insight on this I'd love to hear it. Just not sure if we even have a choice or not, and uncertain of what to do.

Thank you!!

I'm not a tech but I am pretty sure you don't have advanced airbags. Does your manual say anything about sensors in the seats? Hopefully a tech will confirm this for you.

A Civic that old doesn't have advanced airbags. My 04 doesn't.

Ooh - so just to make sure I'm understanding correctly, "advanced airbags" is the term I'm looking for for when they are affected by something braced against the car's seats?

It would be wonderful if we don't have these. I'll wait for a tech to hopefully reply, but I'm sure you're both right.

Amy - No, I looked everywhere in the manual and wasn't able to find any information like that.

Just to be sure, the Radian itself is safe braced against the seats, right, as long as it is installed correctly and independently of the seats (not aided at all by the seats)?

Not a tech here either, but yes you are right. Advanced air bags is where the concern can be with bracing/laying against the seats. There are sensors that go by weight/pressure to dictate how much force the airbag is deployed with.

I'm fairly certain that there are probably very few, if any cars from 98 that would have advanced airbags.

Oh, and yes, as long as the install is completely independent of being braced against the seat, it's safe to do.

Happymom08 said:

Ooh - so just to make sure I'm understanding correctly, "advanced airbags" is the term I'm looking for for when they are affected by something braced against the car's seats?

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Yes, that's correct. It's the newer airbags that have the weight sensors in the seats. The sensors detect whether or not someone is sitting in the seat (passenger's side) and if so, the weight of the person. Then that information determines whether the airbag deploys in a crash and with how much force.

Happymom08 said:

It would be wonderful if we don't have these. I'll wait for a tech to hopefully reply, but I'm sure you're both right.

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You don't have them. If you did, you'd see a light on your dash that tells you when the passenger side airbag is off. Like I said, my 2004 Civic doesn't have that. I think Honda starting using advanced airbags in the Civic in the generation after the one I have, so 2006 and newer. Most manufacturers have only used them for less than 5 years now, some a bit longer, but it'd be very rare for a car older than 10 years to have them. Oh, and I'm a tech. That's why my user name is in green...that's how you can see if someone is a tech

Happymom08 said:

Amy - No, I looked everywhere in the manual and wasn't able to find any information like that.

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In a vehicle with advanced airbags, you'll find mention of not hanging things from seatbacks, allowing children to kick seats, etc. Probably not a direct mention of not resting a car seat on the seat back. The info is in the airbag section of the manual.

Happymom08 said:

Just to be sure, the Radian itself is safe braced against the seats, right, as long as it is installed correctly and independently of the seats (not aided at all by the seats)?

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Yep, you got it:thumbsup:

Oops sorry Amy - I just realized that (that you're a tech)! I didn't mean to make it sound like you didn't know what you were talking about either, whether you were a tech or not.

Thank you so much for the great info...I'm glad we can still keep him RF!