Child seat in the front middle bench seat of a car with airbags

[momof6]

Hello, can anyone answer this? We are looking to buy a 2007 Ford F250 truck, which will seat 6 pass. with a front bench seat, and 3 seatbelts in the back seat. There are front and side airbags. Can we put a 6 year old child in a Britax Regent, in the middle seat of the front bench seat? Will the front airbags reach to the middle seat, or do they stay where the front side passengers are? If the bench seat is adjusted as far back away from the steering wheel as possible, will the airbag still reach the middle seat? We have 4 children (ages 7,6,1,1 month) and will be using the truck periodically. Please let me know if anyone has any ideas on this! Thank you!

 

[murphydog77]

Hi. Yes, the front airbags will encroach into the center seating position of the front seat. The driver's airbag is larger than the steering wheel and the passenger airbag is usually large enough to fill the space in between the driver and the passenger in case someone is out of position.

I just can't see fitting a Regent in that front middle position anyway. It's a very large seat and would make driving extremely uncomfortable. Maybe in one of the old 60s boats they used to call cars, lol. Seriously, if you have to put a child in that position, you'd want the oldest forward-facing harnessed child, but I think the Regent is too big. A smaller seat, like the Radian or even a vest like the RideSafer Travel Vest, would work much better.

 

[NZ Child Restraints]

:yeahthat:

well said

 

[wendytthomas]

Yup. I third that.

Wendy

 

[Defrost]

The other issue you're going to run into with the Regent in the front center is the tether - there's no place to top-tether it, and it's *required* for children over 50lbs.

The Radian doesn't have a tether requirement, but I'm not sure how well it installs in that position.

Do the 2007's have lap/shoulder belts in the front center? The Ride-Safer Travel Vest needs a top-tether when used with a lap-only belt, so that's going to create a problem as well unless it has a lap/shoulder belt in that position.

 

[skipspin]

I know that up to 2005 there is only a lap belt in that front center position. The consul flips up to make the 6th seat. (I did talk to some Engineers at an auto show and BEG for a lap/shoulder belt in the front center. Did they listen?) Anyway, Chevy and GM prohibit installing any child seat in that spot in the 03 and 05 manuals, so I'd check the manual before you buy. I'm guessing that they never tested it with a child seat.

If it wasn't prohibited I would probably put the oldest child that fit in a Radian in that spot if I needed all 6 seats. We have had to use ours once or twice and either I or another adult sit there with all kids in the back. I would *never, ever* put a Rfing child there!

 

[Victorious4]

All the advice you've received is excellent! Absolutely check the vehicle manual before you sign: look for whether or not a carseat is allowed in this position at all as well as whether there is a place to tether.... With a thin driver & passenger, our Husky would fit in the front of my dad's 1999 F250, but there's no tether anchorage (can't even be installed) so the Regent wouldn't work, nor would the Ride Safer Travel Vest (unless they've added a shoulder belt?), but the Radian would work -- puting a child in the front would of course be a very last resort option for which I'd rather consider rearranging who joins in for the ride