Airbags in the seatbelt-how would you use a car seat?

todzwife

New member
SIL has a new ford explorer and was going on and on about how cool the new inflatable seat belts were. I told her that sounded interesting but I still have kids in car seat (her youngest is 4 and is boostered) I'm not sure I'd be comfortable with a child being in a seat with one-especially since they are so dangerous for them in the front seat. And how would you install a car seat if the latch didn't work out or they were too heavy?

Am I missing something here because it doesn't sound that "awesome" to me.:eek:
 
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Judi

CPST/Firefighter
All car seat companies (except for Chicco) are stating to not use the inflatable seats belt to install their car seats.

This may change in the future when Ford starts talking to the car seat companies again, but not now.
 

luckyclov

New member
Depends on the child seat manufacturer and what they say about use of inflatable seatbelts for installation of their child restraints. To my knowledge, Chicco is the only one who allows the use of inflatable seatbelts.
 

cso1997

Active member
Most manufacturers have been quiet about this issue as they learn more. Britax does not allow the belts to be used with their seats. Chicco is fine with the inflatable belts. If my seat manufacturer was fine with the belts then I would be too. I am sure we will hear more soon. I am very excited about the new technology.

ETA: I guess Judi has more info. I only heard that Britax said no and Chicco said yes. I didn't know that all other manufacturers had said no.
 

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician
IIRC, Combi has also said no. I thought other manufacturers (other than Britax and Chicco, as mentioned above) were mum. Do we know for sure others have said no?

Barring a decisive comment one way or the other from a manufacturer, I would use it/not use it depending on what the beltpath was like.

According to Ford, the seatbelts pose no risk of injury and car seats performed properly in their tests. Having seen their presentation, I'm inclined to believe them, but you still need to follow manufacturer instructions.
 

jess71903

Ambassador
Ford says they are safe with seats, but nobody but Chicco has approved their seats with them yet. According to Ford, the mechanism for inflating the seatbelt bags is nothing like that of the front seat bags. They deploy with much less force. I believe in their tests, the Snugride 32 lockoffs popped open, but the seat performed as it should have and nothing else happened. If I were to get a vehicle with them now, I'd probably use LATCH to the limits and then hope my kid was booster-ready, but really, I think in the coming months and years, seat manufacturers will get with it and test their seats, and all will be fine. I don't think these seat belts will be going away.
 

Judi

CPST/Firefighter
Ford and the car seat companies were talking during Lifesavers. By the time KIM conference came up, Ford had stopping talking, so the car seat companies all said no, at KIM, other than Chicco IIRC. But you can't use the lock off on the infant seat, right?
 

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician
Judi said:
Ford and the car seat companies were talking during Lifesavers. By the time KIM conference came up, Ford had stopping talking, so the car seat companies all said no, at KIM, other than Chicco IIRC. But you can't use the lock off on the infant seat, right?

Right, they say not to use the lockoff. With the Ford belts, the lap portion locks at the retractor, so you'd use that. (It's not a separate lap belt, it's just that the lap portion locks and the shoulder portion doesn't.
 

Mags462

New member
Okay call me insanely daft - but what would the supposed "safety" benefit be of an inflatable seat belt?! Less bruising? :eek: I'm just not seeing the reason for this honestly.....:eek:
 

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician
It spreads the forces out more. They showed x-rays of a cadaver that was restrained with a regular belt and x-rays of one who was restrained with the inflatable belt.

The one with the regular belt had all sorts of fractures (small, but noticeable) in the ribs. The one with the inflatable belt only had one tiny fracture that was so small they almost couldn't find it.
 

Cath3114

New member
LISmama810 said:
It spreads the forces out more. They showed x-rays of a cadaver that was restrained with a regular belt and x-rays of one who was restrained with the inflatable belt.

The one with the regular belt had all sorts of fractures (small, but noticeable) in the ribs. The one with the inflatable belt only had one tiny fracture that was so small they almost couldn't find it.

So how did the person die?
 

LISmama810

Admin - CPS Technician
Yes, cadaver used for crash testing. They were already dead when they got in the belt.

IIRC, they were small adult females.
 

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