Swedish seat choice: Britax Two-way vs. Axkid Minikid

safeinthecar

Moderator - CPS Technician
You scoffed at the legal system in the US in your post. So, I assume you are familiar with US insurance companies (many of which do business in Canada as well) and know that some will deny claims for anything, and put customers through hell even to obtain reimbursement for expenses that should be covered. The legal exceptions to coverage can be considerable, and vary significantly from one company to another and from state to state.

This is the absolute truth. I had to fight to get a tire covered under my insurance plan when I was sideswiped. They tried to deny it as a normal road hazard puncture, despite the fact that I had pictures showing the axle protruding through the sidewall.

My BIL was in a crash a year ago yesterday and the other guy's insurance refused to pay because BIL was making a left turn (automatic assumption of fault), even though their client was running a red light while driving in the bike lane. Their guy wasn't even driving on the road!
 
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katymyers

Active member
I can testify to the fact that rear facing tethering DOES affect advanced air bag sensors. In my 2007 Mazda5, I briefly used my Boulevard rear facing in the second row and had it tethered to the front passenger seat's mounting bracket. The airbag sensor light for that seat would flicker on and off with or without a passenger. I was not comfortable with that and moved the seat to my third row. As for insurance companies not reimbursing for seats, I recently had a friend who's car was totaled in an accident. The company replaced her two year old's seat without an issue but refused to replace her eight year old's booster due to the fact that Idaho state law states a child no longer needs a booster after the age of six and therefore her son's seat was unnecessary. She ended up replacing it herself. Insurance companies will bend you over backwards for ANYTHING.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

SafeDad

CPSDarren - Admin
Staff member
Oh my, I seem to have reignited the airbag/tethering debate. hot button issue! Sorry about that :) I believe everyone here has the safety of our children as their utmost concern and the issue is a disagreement about how to best achieve that goal. It seems to be a complex issue, likely depending on specific vehicles. I don't feel I know enough yet to settle on my own opinion and appreciate the input of all. Thank you!

No worries at all- Always a good idea to ask when the safety of any passenger is involved! This really is not a debate, but rather correcting misinformation. Some vehicles in the USA and Canada do indeed have sensors for the front passenger airbag deployment that can be affected by the downward and/or forward force of a rear-facing child restraint that is braced against the front passenger seat back. You must consult your vehicle owner's manual to verify if this is a potential safety risk.

For example, I am aware that GM, VW and Chrysler are all likely to have some reference in certain new owner's manuals that prohibit rear-facing carseats to be braced and/or tethered in certain configurations. I have not heard if Audi will do the same, as it is part of the VW group, or if any of these companies will make this retroactive to previous model years.

Thank you again so much to all of you who have taken your time to share your knowledge with me. I am grateful for the input from all!

Thank you very much for visiting! If you have any more questions please feel free to ask. Even these discussions that go a little off-topic can be very helpful to others reading so please don't worry about bringing up potentially controversial safety topics;-)

As your your situation, I would wait as long as possible to make a choice. Your Radians should allow you to continue rear-facing for quite some time and you can use the angle-adjuster if needed. When your Radians are nearly outgrown, you may find you are ready to move front-facing. Or, you might find you reached the weight or height limit much sooner than the other limit, allowing you to find a USA approved product that will work at much lower cost, perhaps one that can be used as a forward-facing seat and booster as well. Plus, there may be new seats available that have even higher ratings.

Honestly, rear-facing is so safe and the risks so low when installed and used correctly, I don't think there is going to be any significant difference in safety for your child as long as they are within the limits of the carseat.

For example, the Clek Fllo offers a very high weight limit and anti-rebound bar that avoids a rear-facing tether. While expensive, I imagine importing a high-end Swedish seat will be just as costly or more.

Amazon.com : Clek Fllo 2015 Convertible Child Seat, Drift : Baby


For a little less money, the Britax Boulevard Clicktight offers exceptional rear-facing height limits and will have an optional anti-rebound bar:

Amazon.com : Britax Boulevard ClickTight Convertible Car Seat, Circa : Baby


The Graco Milestone offers above average weight and height limits at a reasonable price and works as a booster as well:

http://www.target.com/p/graco-milestone-all-in-1-car-seat/-/A-16721763


All three are on our Recommended Carseats list at CarseatBlog as well.

Good luck with your choice!
 

gigi

New member
I hugely recommend the Clek Fllo or the Boulevard CT, if you are considering US seats. Both excellent seats, both would fit my 42" 3 year old RF for a while longer. And both very nice as FF seats too. Excellent seats both. I went with the CT because of the extra 2" of harness height for FF. The Fllo probably had enough to get her to 5 but I wasn't sure and it would have been close (she is 95% for height).
 

Loony

New member
It was suggested that I post with details on my kids' measurements etc. for a recommendation on US seats...I did that in a new thread but haven't gotten any replies - figured I'd try to link to that post here to see if any of you had thoughts based on those details. If so, I'd love to hear. Thanks! (I apologize if linking to a post this way isn't a good thing to do...I'm new to these forums :))

http://www.car-seat.org/showthread.php?p=2856884#post2856884
 

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