3rd World Country Travel - Car seat, but no seat belts!

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UmZain

Guest
Hi,

We are leaving Sunday for Pakistan and I don't know what to do about a car seat. In Pakistan I have never seen anyone using a car seat at all and I have several questions.

Does anyone know if car seats are available to purchase in Pakistan?

If I bring my own car seat, how do I attach it to the car? I am pretty sure there are no seat belts in the car we will be using.

If there aren't any seatbelts, is it better to still strap my son in a car seat and use it unattached to the car, or is that a greater safety hazzard than not using it at all?

Does anyone have any other suggestions about what I can do to ensure my son's safety while driving in Pakistan?

Thank you.
 
ADS
H

hipmaman

Moderator - CPST Instructor
No glue about carseats availibility in Pakistan, but I would hazard that there isn't any since there does not seem to have any seatbelt in the vehicles, then how can they attach the carseats. Kiwm?

Is it less safe for your son to be in the vehicle unrestrained (and maybe only by your arms) or restrained in a loose carseat (that would be a heavy fly-away object in a collision and endangering other passengers)? Hard to predict what would be worse, but no doubt, then are both bad situation.

Sorry for not able to make you feel better, but that's the rub of it.

I honestly don't have answers as I faced the same dilemna and decided not to travel to Vietnam. I was told they cut the seatbelts in the back benches off so more passengers would fit and not need to have unused seatbelts taking up spacious seats. Yikes! The only possibility is some vehicles might have front seatbelt but there is the issue of airbag.

Btw, were you the poster asking about carseat in Pakistan last week?
 
snowbird25ca

snowbird25ca

Moderator - CPST Instructor
I'm also inclined to think the carseat is going to be better than a baby being completely unrestrained. All the adults in the vehicle would become projectiles in a crash as well, so I don't know that an infant carrier would be any worse of one than the other adults - not as soft edges, but nowhere near the weight of an adult... and a human skull isn't soft, so overall I don't think the carrier would be a worse projectile than an unrestrained adult in the vehicle.

If there's a way to put the carrier on the floor between the front seat and your feet that's what I would do. I have to believe in a crash an infant in a carseat - even if the carseat was unable to be buckled in, would fare better than an infant completely unrestrained. The hard shell of the carseat would provide some protection I'd think in the event the baby & carseat were thrown from the vehicle.
 
snowbird25ca

snowbird25ca

Moderator - CPST Instructor
I just wanted to clarify what I meant by my previous post about the location of where I'd put the carseat on the floor. I was referring to behind the front seat - so the foot area of the backseat of the car.

Somebody pointed out to me that my initial post could be interpreted to mean the floor in the front of the car between the dash and the front seat which isn't what I intended, so I thought I'd clarify. :)
 
U

UmZain

New member
So if I do strap him in the carseat, and there are no seatbelts, should I try to tie the car seat into the car with rope? I can see being able to do this with the carseat in the front seat of the car (don't worry - I don't think there are airbags either and I'll check first.)

And to the posts about riding in the car with the baby in a sling or that Airline travel vest thing - do you think this is a safe option? I can't help but think that it's not because how would we know what would happen in an accident? How would be know the physics and mechanics of that as a safety device in a crash?

And no, I'm not the same person asking about Pakistan car seats.

Thank you all for your help!
 
S

southpawboston

New member
okay, i googled around a bit, and newer cars in pakistan DO have seatbelts, but older cars-- even as recent as the late 80s, may not. do you know what car(s) you will be using?
 
U

UmZain

New member
Yeah, there are seatbelts in newer cars, but I think my in-laws car is from the early 90's, and I'm not sure about whether it has front seat belts, but I know it doesn't have rear seat belts.

Of course, we can't buy a new car for our trip.

If all else fails, we'll look into car rental, but even that may be prohibitively expensive save for a few days when we must travel with baby.

I'm really just trying to figure out all of my options before our trip.

Thanks!
 
QuassEE

QuassEE

Moderator - CPST Instructor
There will be seatbelts in both front seats, most likely. If you do find yourself without seatbelts, the safest place is supposedly in the rear footwell, with the seat in front reclined back to contain the child's carseat within that space.

I'm a tech, and I've been in this same position when travelling in Trinidad and Tobago. I only had one child my first visit, and we were generally able to put him in the front passenger seat in his carseat but once I had my second son and we went back...well, let's just say I have a very interesting (incriminating?) photo of the situation!

You might want to consider just renting a car in Pakistan, since the rental companies have newer cars and can probably scare up something with four or five belts for you. You can call them from home and confirm. It's always an adventure driving in a foreign country fresh off a plane.

-Nicole.
 
U

UmZain

New member
QuassEE said:
If you do find yourself without seatbelts, the safest place is supposedly in the rear footwell, with the seat in front reclined back to contain the child's carseat within that space.

In the rear footwell facing forward or backward? He's on the border between the two and is RF (and reclining) at home but I doubt they'll be room for that and he might have to FF (not reclining). Is this still safe(r)?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
 
QuassEE

QuassEE

Moderator - CPST Instructor
It's not something that's really crash tested..so it's hard to say about positioning, etc. I would suspect a seat would only fit sideways in the footwell. Keep in mind, if you get in a crash there's still a good chance of ejection, compartment intrusion, and even the front seat collapsing into that footwell space. This isn't a safe option, but it's better than holding a child in your arms (which is what Pakistani do.) Hopefully you'll be able to find a rental car that has seatbelts, or the car you will be riding in does have a belt in the front passenger seat you can use.

-Nicole.
 

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