Seat position in a 2000 Honda CRV and Toyota Matrix.

Kimberly

New member
I have a question about where I should place my car seat in our 2000 Honda CRV and our 2003 Toyota Matrix. I only have one car seat in each car.

In the Matrix, I have an EFTA seat rear facing, and installed with the LATCH. It is behind the passenger seat, should I have it in the middle seat? I am not sure if there are latch hooks there, I don't think so.

In the CRV, I have an Eddie Bauer-AOE seat also behind the passenger seat. There isn't a Latch system in that car, and the middle seat does not have a shoulder belt, just a lap belt. Should she be in the centre of the seat, or is she ok where she is?

My daughter is 16 months old, and 20lbs. We originally had the Eddie Bauer seat in the Matrix, but I did not enjoy that seat, at all! She used to only travel in the CRV rarely, but we will be driving it more often so I wanted to double check.

Thanks for any suggestions,
Kimberly
 
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U

Unregistered

Guest
Car seats are officially considered safest in the middle so the kid is as far as possible from any side impacts. Latch and seat belt are both equally safe as long as each is used correctly. Latch is supposed to be easier (I don't have latch so I don't know).

For EFTA if you can get a proper install in the middle with the seat belt that's great. If not, on the side with latch is fine.

For the AOE, same thing. If you can get a proper install in the middle great. If not, on the side is fine. Is the AOE forward facing? If so, would you put her back rf? If not, just make sure the seat is tethered. Have you heard kids are safer rf until they're a lot older? I've heard anywhere up to age 4 and that even after that kids are still safer rf.

Personally, in my car, I prefer car seats in the middle although most techs say as long as kids rf they're really really safe on the sides or in the middle.
 

QuassEE

Moderator - CPST Instructor
I usually tell parents to use whichever seating position works best for them. If they can get a good install in the centre seat, and don't have trouble getting the child in and out in that seating position--go for it. It's further from potential points of impact and intrusions. However--true side collisions are far less common as compared to frontal and frontal-offset collisions, so ensuring a good install and proper use is far more important than whether your child is centre or outboard.

I would never opt for the center seating position if I couldn't get a great install in that position, if parents were struggling to get the child in and out of the car, if parents were distracted by two side-by-side children arguing because of a center install, etc. There are lots of factors that you need to consider. Being a parent is hard enough, and if having your child outboard saves your sanity in some small way then it's really not a problem to do so.

Lots of us have multiple children, and it's often much more feasible to spread them apart into the outboard seating positions. I personally have two centre seating positions in my van, and they're never in use. My four children all sit outboard, and I certainly don't beat myself up over it.

BTW--certain years of the CR-V can actually be a really tough install with a number of seats, in that centre seating position. I can't remember if that includes the 2000--I don't think so, as it doesn't have the two part lap-shoulderbelt in that year. It's a really narrow seat, however, so that's something to consider since you have an AOE. It may be a tougher install.

As for LATCH and belts--Although both the belt and LATCH are equal as far as safety goes, LATCH does have a weight limit (40lbs for Honda, 48 for Toyota) and you'd have to switch to a seatbelt install with any higher weight harnessed seat eventually anyways. Always make sure you can get a good seatbelt install in some seating position in your vehicle before buying a carseat, for this reason. Your Toyota does not allow centre LATCH use, so if you switch to the centre in your Matrix then you'll need to use the seatbelt. You can use the lap-only belt in the centre for your carseat (lapbelts should really only ever be used for carseats, not direct occupants) in the CR-V if that seating position works for you. If it doesn't work for you, don't sweat it--outboard is just fine.

-Nicole.
 

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