Large Van Safety

My wife and I have 6 children and are expecting a 7th in a number of months. We have been travelling in a minivan, but will need to switch to a full-size van. I have not seen vans with head restraints, and many only have lap belts (no shoulder harness) in the middle of the bench seats.

Are there any safe add-on head restraints available?

Is there any possibility that a seat from an SUV that has head restraints would fit in a full-size van?

A friend suggested buying a limo, but the ones I have seen didn't look like they had safe seating arrangements.

I wouldn't trust ANY aftermarket safety features unless they are approved by the vehicle manufactuer. Swapping seats from model to model also could be questionable, as you won't have any crash testing that applies.

I don't know if you will find a GM or Ford with head restraints and shoulder belts in all seating positions. Unfortunately, manufacturers omit critical safety features from this vehicle class. It's virtually impossible to find passenger vehicles that seat more than 8 passengers and also have a full complement of safety features:-(

Don't forget to look at the new DaimlerChrysler Freightliner Sprinter. I'm pretty sure it has shoulder belts and head restraints in all seating positions. I don't know if that is the case, as I haven't seen one yet and their website is not very good ( http://www.fl-sprinter.com ). Plus, the 2500 series models have stability control for 2004, a big advantage for top heavy vehicles. It is also supposed to have superior handling compared to the obsolete GM and Ford designs which have been around for many years, if not decades.

While not safety related, the sliding rear door and fuel economy are big advantages over other full sized vans.

If I had to purchase a full size van for my family, I would take a very close look at the Sprinter 2500 HC 140 (low roof, 10-passenger model), even though they are harder to find than the more common models. It may be the safest option on the market that seats more than 8 people.

Here are a couple brochures that appears to show shoulder belts and head restraints for 10 passengers:

http://www.fl-sprinter.com/Customer/Images/Passenger.pdf

http://www.lafreightliner.com/Passenger.pdf