08+ town & country with rf captains chairs...

soph's mom · Jul 24, 2013

I've seen quite a few pics in motion with the seats turned backwards. We all preach rf is safer and all passengers could benefit from riding rf but does Chrysler approve of the captain's chairs being rf while driving? Are they crash tested to perform this way? The addition of the little "card table" between the second and third rows looks like a great way to encourage passengers to abandon good seating position while playing games...

Jeanum · Jul 25, 2013

I don't know of the details of testing done on the optional second row swivel and go captain's chairs. Chrysler does allow them to be rear facing when the vehicle is driven, but does not allow carseat installation/usage when the captain's chair is rear facing, carseat usage is only allowed when vehicle seats are forward facing. An adult sized/5-step passing passenger could benefit from riding rear facing due to the physics and crash dynamics of rear facing. I would leave the table stowed in motion, though, even if Chrysler allows for it to be upright when the vehicle is driven, because in addition to the increased potential for passengers to be out of position, the table's vertical support leaves very limited leg room for second row rear facing captain's chair occupants or for third row occupants.

LISmama810 · Jul 25, 2013

I would add that although Chrysler allows them to be used rear-facing (without car seats), and it seems like a great way to "rear-face" older kids and adults, I would not do it without specific crash-test information from Chrysler, which they might or might not have. There is no crash-testing standard (or requirement) for second-row seats. At a conference a few years ago, I spoke with the manufacturer of a rear-facing ambulance seat, who detailed all they went through to design one that didn't cause the adult dummy to ramp up to dangerous levels. That got me wondering about the rear-facing Chrysler seats. I have no proof they're unsafe, but none that they're safe either.

soph's mom · Jul 25, 2013

It's an interesting concept... I hope the seats have a safety feature that keeps them from reclining in the rfing position bc I could see some major ramping and possible ejecting issues if the seats were reclined. I'm assuming they don't allow car seats bc they can't/don't test them plus someone would try to put a rfing infant in the rfing seat thus making it ffing... It would be nice to be able to have preschoolers/younger kids who have outgrown rfing child seats be able to rf in those captains chairs...

Just a lot of uncertainty with the whole thing though. If I get these three 2 year olds to nap at the same time today I may do some more research to see if there was any testing at all...

08+ town & country with rf captains chairs...

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