Why can't you install car seats on rear-facing seats?

ADS

Melizerd

New member
Short answer, because they haven't been tested that way.

I think it has something to do with the force placed on the metal in a crash though.
 

mommyto4

New member
I've wondered this too. I just don't do it because they say not to do it. I would assume that it is because it has not been tested that way.
 

LuvBug

New member
well I would think partly would be because you would have to install it forwardfacing on the rearfacing seat in order for it to be a rearfacing seat... and for an infant even if you could install it in forward facing mode in the recline it would be too upright.
Also in order for it to face the front it would have to be installed rearfacing, which would make it very insecure.

I dont know if those are legit, but they make sense to me! lol!
 

Patriot201

Car-Seat.org Ambassador
well I would think partly would be because you would have to install it forwardfacing on the rearfacing seat in order for it to be a rearfacing seat... and for an infant even if you could install it in forward facing mode in the recline it would be too upright.
Also in order for it to face the front it would have to be installed rearfacing, which would make it very insecure.

I dont know if those are legit, but they make sense to me! lol!

I agree. I'm not sure if that is *actually* the reason, but it sounds good. :) :p
 

singingpond

New member
well I would think partly would be because you would have to install it forwardfacing on the rearfacing seat in order for it to be a rearfacing seat... and for an infant even if you could install it in forward facing mode in the recline it would be too upright.
Also in order for it to face the front it would have to be installed rearfacing, which would make it very insecure.

I dont know if those are legit, but they make sense to me! lol!

The inadequate recline for an infant makes sense, but, other than that, wouldn't one always want the carseat to be installed 'FF' (i.e. facing the rear of the vehicle) anyway? Since rear-facing in a frontal collision is theoretically safer for everyone (assuming proper head support)? I've wondered about this question also, since a rear-facing vehicle seat would seem to provide particularly good support to the installed carseat in a frontal collision. I assume the reason not to do it is that it is an untested configuration. For that matter, is there ANY testing of these types of vehicle seats -- i.e. for occupants riding there with the regular seatbelt? I thought vehicle crash tests only put dummies into the front seat of the vehicle? I wonder if there is any accessible real-world data about the safety of rear-facing vehicle seats in actual crashes.... There probably isn't much economic incentive to crash-test carseats for use in rear-facing vehicle seats, since crash-tests are expensive, and the number of rear-facing vehicle seats out there is fairly low.

Katrin
 

UlrikeDG

Admin - CPS Technician Emeritus
FF belt path not reinforced to take crash forces in WHAT way? A frontal crash would push the CR into the vehicle seat putting little to no strain on the actual belt path.
 

Squeaky McMurdo

New member
Thread resurrection

Resurrecting this thread because I'm genuinely curious. I get why you wouldn't want to put an infant seat or a baby that needs the recline there, but is there really no reason buckling a seat onto a rear-facing seat using the ff belt path is dangerous other than "I don't think it has been tested"?
 

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician
Well, at Lifesavers last year I had a very thorough conversation with an engineer for a company that makes ambulance seats. He explained how they were crash testing rear-facing seats (for grown-ups) for ambulances, and the first several designs caused the dummies to ramp up dangerously. One wouldn't expect that of an upright rear-facing seat, but it happened. It took a few more designs before they got a "safe" one.

So I'd say the fact that it hasn't been tested is a valid reason not to do it.

Incidentally, that also made me suspicious of the swivel seats in the Town & Country. We assume that riding rear-facing (for a person too large for child restraints) would be better, but what if it's not? (I mean, in terms of pure physics, of course it is, but what if the specific design is such that it makes it worse?) Those seats do not have to be crash tested, and I don't know what kind of testing, if any, the manufacturer conducted.
 

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician
cookie123 said:
I thought those seats in the T & C had to be ff if the vehicle was moving. Did I imagine that?

Pretty sure they can be backwards as long as there's no child restraint on them.
 

mommyfrog

Active member
I think it is allowed other places. The Kiddy World car seat that is coming soon here is allowed to be used on rf seats in Europe. I read the manual for the European version a couple of years ago and thought it would be cool if it was allowed here. At the time I had a station wagon with the rf third seat. It doesn't seem like kids would ramp up a car seat installed on one of those anymore than a rf car seat installed on a ff seat. With the straps holding them down at the hips and shoulders......That's just my ponderings though!!
 

Malka

New member
I have no idea what the answer would be, but a parent at my son's school has carseats installed on her rear facing seats in her van.
 

robbertbobbert

New member
I don't know, but I really wish I could put seats there. I have an 8 passenger station wagon and can only use four seating positions. It's inconvenient.

Truth be told, I DID put two kids in the back of my car this fall. The two useable middle seats were in use, and it was an emergency with nobody else available to transport.

The girls normally sit in lbbs, but they five stepped in that seat.

I wouldn't do it under most circumstances, but it was an emergency and I was glad to have the seats there. They're normally useless.
 

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician
mommyfrog said:
It doesn't seem like kids would ramp up a car seat installed on one of those anymore than a rf car seat installed on a ff seat. With the straps holding them down at the hips and shoulders......That's just my ponderings though!!

The ambulance seat in question also had a harness. IIRC, it was a very minor change that took the seat from "major injury" level to acceptable. Given such a small margin of error, I wouldn't assume it's safe without the testing to prove it.
 

agave

New member
I think they should start making cars with the 2nd row RF and the 3rd row FF. That way no one has to sit with the cargo.
 

Brigala

CPST Instructor
I feel "It's not tested" is a good enough reason also.

That said... given no other options... I would think that a convertible seat (which is already designed to be used both RF and FF) installed in a FF-way on a RF-seat probably would provide adequate (though most likely not optimal) protection in a minor to moderate crash. So if I absolutely had to transport, say, six toddlers in a station wagon, I'd sooner do that than put kids on that rear-facing seat with no CR at all.

As a temporary situation, I had a friend with a huge family and all she could afford that had enough seat belts was a sable wagon with a jump seat. At the time, most of her kids were still car-seat age. The jump seats and two of the cabin seats were lap-belt-only. There was no safe way to transport all the kids in that car, but not transporting the kids was not an option (it was a divorce/custody/visitation situation). We experimented with various combinations to try to pick out the least of all evils. I don't remember what exactly she decided to do, but we did test-install some seats there to see if it would work. We knew full well that it wasn't allowed, and not the safest thing to do, but she was left with limited options.

As soon as she could, she bought a Suburban.
 

Car-Seat.Org Facebook Group

Forum statistics

Threads
219,656
Messages
2,196,897
Members
13,530
Latest member
onehitko860

You must read your carseat and vehicle owner’s manual and understand any relevant state laws. These are the rules you must follow to restrain your children safely. All opinions at Car-Seat.Org are those of the individual author for informational purposes only, and do not necessarily reflect any policy or position of Carseat Media LLC. Car-Seat.Org makes no representations as to accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis. If you are unsure about information provided to you, please visit a local certified technician. Before posting or using our website you must read and agree to our TERMS.

Graco is a Proud Sponsor of Car-Seat.Org! Britax is a Proud Sponsor of Car-Seat.Org! Nuna Baby is a Proud Sponsor of Car-Seat.Org!

Please  Support Car-Seat.Org  with your purchases of infant, convertible, combination and boosters seats from our premier sponsors above.
Shop travel systems, strollers and baby gear from Britax, Chicco, Clek, Combi, Evenflo, First Years, Graco, Maxi-Cosi, Nuna, Safety 1st, Diono & more! ©2001-2022 Carseat Media LLC

Top