After responses from a previous post, I've decided to buy a HBB for my daughter in my husband's car. It will always be used in the center seat... how important is side impact protection in this position? I am looking at either an Evenflo Big Kid Sport or a Graco TB. The TB definitely has bigger head wings, but I just wonder how necessary they are in the middle. I doubt she will ever sleep in this seat since she really only rides in there going to school in the morning. Also, she is tall and lean -- does one of these seats tend to fit skinnier children better?
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SIP in center seat?
- Thread starter MAJ
- Start date
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LISmama810
Admin - CPS Technician
Side-impact protection serves two purposes. First, it helps protect from intrusion into the vehicle and prevents/reduces contact with the vehicle. Second, it reduces the lateral movement of the body.
In the center position, intrusion/contact isn't a huge concern. Lateral movement, however, is always a concern regardless of seating position.
That said, there are no side-impact standards in the US, and even seats that appear to have amazing SIP (in the form of huge wings, etc.) might be worthless in a crash. Since side-impacts nearly always involve forward motion, too, there's a good chance that the child will be thrown forward of the wings anyway.
Even so, my own personal feeling on it is that I prefer to have wings vs not having them, and figure that even if they MIGHT not make a difference, it can't hurt to have them. I don't fret too much about having the biggest wings available or anything.
In the center position, intrusion/contact isn't a huge concern. Lateral movement, however, is always a concern regardless of seating position.
That said, there are no side-impact standards in the US, and even seats that appear to have amazing SIP (in the form of huge wings, etc.) might be worthless in a crash. Since side-impacts nearly always involve forward motion, too, there's a good chance that the child will be thrown forward of the wings anyway.
Even so, my own personal feeling on it is that I prefer to have wings vs not having them, and figure that even if they MIGHT not make a difference, it can't hurt to have them. I don't fret too much about having the biggest wings available or anything.
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