Any thoughts on this downward rotation/rebound study?

ketchupqueen said:

It doesn't just turn off the passenger airbag. It may affect the sensors. Which means if you never have anyone there it's fine to use touching there. If the sensors misread the data because something is pressing on the back they may deploy with too little or too much force, not deploy when they should, or deploy when they shouldn't any of which carry an increased risk to the passenger of injury or death. So, never having anyone ride there allows you to touch, yes, but it has to be NEVER, at least without removing the seat.

Remember that the seat is not allowed to rotate past 70 degrees when installed at the most recline allowed by the seat. It's not going to go flat, not really. It can dip deep, yes, but not past 70.

Click to expand...

So if I touch the seat, but then move the seat forward when someone sits there, it's ok?

Hazelandlucy said:

So if I touch the seat, but then move the seat forward when someone sits there, it's ok?

Click to expand...

Assuming there's no prohibition from the car seat's instructions, yes.

The worst thing that can happen is that the airbag could deploy into the empty seat, which would drive up the cost of repairs.

Wish NHTSA would do some more testing, but check this old stuff out, none of the RF tests got close to 70, they are all more upright http://www.nhtsa.gov/Cars/testing/comply/fmvss213/index.html

I have an older Swedish seat that doesn't have a foot prop, it is meant to be braced/touching, if not touching then it needs 400mm/ 15 & 3/4 inches of clearance. That seems like a lot of movement room to me!

Keep in mind that the main function of "smart" airbags is to lessen the power they deploy at if the passenger is very small or out of position. Even a very small adult is not likely to receive anything worse than a greater number of broken bones from the original, fully-powered, airbags. It's KIDS that are at risk from airbags, and even they are mainly at greater risk due to behavior and lack of proper restraint than anything.

One of my friends (an instructor) was telling a group of students last week that sometimes you have to look at the whole situation and realize that because kids are small and fragile they have a much greater chance of being killed or seriously injured in a crash and figure out who can afford to give up a little bit of crash protection so that someone else can gain some. This is a cipher that changes constantly and must be re-evaluated often.

For a single child family, the best solution for THIS moment in time might be to look at a seat that allows Euro routing or has a load leg or Aussie tether. For a multi child family, there are enough other factors involved that you can put a ffing child in the center to get the extra side impact protection, or you may need to factor in distracted driving due to fighting sibs.

Ultimately, you need to take a deep breath and do what is reasonable and logical to protect your children from car crashes. It's never going to be perfectly safe, so really, you can't drive yourself (drive! haha, puns, I does it without even trying!)

crazy trying to chase down every possibility. Modern car seats do an astonishing job of protecting children even with the the pathetically high misuse rate, so just being in a PROPERLY USED seat gives your child a huge mathematical advantage.

safeinthecar said:

Keep in mind that the main function of "smart" airbags is to lessen the power they deploy at if the passenger is very small or out of position.

Click to expand...

To add to your comment. In my last vehicle (and maybe my current ones but I confess I haven't read the manual about the air bag sensors in them yet ), the side torso air bags would turn off completely if a passenger was out of position. So if there was pressure on the right part of the rear of the seat, I suppose it could make the sensor think the person was out of position and turn off that side torso air bag. Which would suck in a side collision.

I know this thread is super old and I feel like I was a combination of bored SAHM and some sort of post partum anxiety....plus I did find the studies fascinating! But I just read that blog about how Dorel has reversed their 2 yr old FF minimum on their seats. Is any of this downward rotation part of the reason?

I think I am just trying to feel less crazy for spending two weeks around this time driving with my passenger seat at the dashboard!!

Still think load legs/rebound bar/rigid latch should be on RF convertibles - my nephews seats in England are just so solid with all that and I would think head strikes would have to minimized.