Advanced Airbags???

lanwenyi

New member
Do all cars w/ advanced airbags have the "no touching" rule for the passenger seat?

I hear about it here a lot, but while we were out car-shopping, I looked through the owner's manual for the new VW we're planning to buy and could find NO prohibition on it. The salesperson said the sensors for the airbag are only in the bottom seat cushion, so touching the seatback shouldn't matter (I took what he said w/ a grain of salt b/c he's trying to sell me car and insisted on actually reading the manual). After reading both the airbag and child seat installation sections word-by-word, we could find nothing stating the prohibition.

We finally tried the behind the passenger seat install and if braced, the radian does fit (it's tight, but doable). The airbag sensor stayed off even with DD in her carseat, but did turn the airbag on as soon as one of us sat in the front passenger seat. To our (untrained) eyes, bracing the radian on the back of the passenger seat did not affect the airbag sensor. However, if it can't touch, then a Radian won't fit behind the passenger.

If not all advanced airbags have that prohibition, what are other manufacturers that allow touching/bracing even w/ advanced air bags?

On a semi-related note, do the rear side airbags help or hinder child passenger safety? (the car we're looking at has 6 standard airbags, but the last 2, the rear side-impact airbags, are an option)

TIA
 
ADS

Defrost

Moderator - CPSTI Emeritus
The restriction for not-touching with advanced airbags is totally dependent on each manufacturer - there's no across-the-board rule, so it's entirely possible that the manual for the car you test-drove was correct.

Airbags in rear seating positions are the same way - depends on what type they are and what the manual says. There is some evidence that side-curtain airbags do provide some protection to children in carseats & boosters, and since side-curtain airbags deploy very differently than frontal-airbags, there's no risk with installing seats in those seating positions.

However, the number one rule is always, ALWAYS read and follow the vehicle manual.
 

SafeDad

CPSDarren - Admin
Staff member
I agree- It's quite possible that manufacturers use different types of sensors for their airbags, so the only way to know what is allowed is to check your owner's manual.
 

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