Plymouth Voyager '93-4kids PLEASE HELP

Plymouth Voyager '93-4kids PLEASE HELP

I have been trying since I found out I was pregnant to get an answer for this. We have a '93 Plymouth Voyager with three children, soon to be four. Right now my two oldest children are in booster seats in the very back of the minivan. There is a middle seat back there (they are on either side) but there is very little room left because of the two booster seats. Then there is the middle seat, which seats two only. My daughter is in a forward facing car seat on the window side. There is an open space between the door to the minivan and the middle seat, I guess so people can get in and out easier. The seatbelt for that unused middle seat has to unlatch from the side of the minivan by the door, and extend across the open space, latches into the floorboard, and then attaches across the passenger into the seat. I hope I am explaining this clearly! Is it safe to attach a rear facing infant seat there? It just seems like a weird system to attach an infant seat to, and yet the only other remaining seat is the front passenger seat. (No airbag -it's just that it is in the front seat.) Now I have read that the back minivan seat is dangerous too, from rear-impact collisions, so I am so worried. We have always been safety conscious, but we have NO money for a different vehicle! Are there any solutions? Would it be better to place a rear facing infant seat in the front seat rather than use that middle seat with the seat belt that extends across? Also, if we DID use that middle seat, my boys in the back seat would be "trapped" back there until the middle seat belt was disengaged from the car seat, since it extends across that space between the back seat and the middle seat. I called my dealership and every single Plymouth Voyager dealership in our city, and none of them have car seat technicians any more (although each one said they used to) and no one would give me any information or advice! It was so frustrating! Please let me know if you have ANY ideas or suggestions! Thank you!

A visit to a technician would be the best option for you-

Ideal placement of your children depends on many factors, including their age, weight, type and model of their restraint, type of seatbelts available, fit of the carseats, etc, etc.

First, please try our "Free Carseat Inspection" resource link under the top banner. It will help you locate a technician or fitting station in your area. Many hospitals, police, fire and public health departments have a certified technician on staff. You could also try your local SafeKids organization.

Unless the vehicle or child restraint owner's manuals say otherwise, you should be able to install a carseat in the second row, even with the belts stretching across the aisle on the side. That assumes that the carseat installs properly there, which could be a problem with some models.

Since you do not have an airbag, the front seat is an option if no other arrangement works. In Sweden it is not uncommon to place a rear-facing restraint in the front seat when there is no airbag, and then they brace it against the dash as well. This apparently works well for heavier toddlers, and they tend to be ahead of us in terms of child passenger safety regulations as well as having low injury and death rates for kids in motor vehicle crashes. Even so, the front seat should still be the last choice, since kids 12 and under are always recommended to be in back.

There is growing concern over the 3rd row in many vehicles. This concern is mostly for heavier adults, especially those without adequate head restraints and those who don't wear their seatbelts. The risk is that the rear seat could collapse in a severe rear end crash when loaded by heavy adults. Fortunately, severe rear-end crashes are pretty rare. Also, kids tend to be lighter and won't load the seat as much. Finally, a harnessed carseat or high back booster provides additional protection from ejection and/or intrusion.

Darren