Foward facing carseat in the front seat with an airbag?

Question

my oldest is 7 and I keep her in a 5 point harness carseat, I have a new baby due in September and just split with my husband which means I now can not afford the van I was planning on upgrading to.

My front seat has an air bag.

there is NO switch to turn it off.

can I pay to have it disabled?

I very very rarely get on the freeway, and although I can scoot the front seat as far away from the airbag as possible I would hate for it to go off....but financially I have no other choice right now.

No "bashing" for me putting her in the front seat please. I don't exactly have a choice, my car isn't worth anything to trade in, and it's all I have at the moment, I'd be more than happy to buy a new one where they all fit in back IF I had ANY means to do so!

Further more I can't find anything saying it's illegal, I'm not only worried about the safety issue of it but also the legal one.

I looked up the laws here in SC ( lexington county ) and it seems perfectly legal. ?????

Answer 1

Try these sites...........

http://www.carseatdata.org/

http://www.childseatcenter.com/article10...

Answer 2

Questions about airbag systems are asked a lot in this site.  Check out this website for many of your answers

http://www.airbagsolutions.com

In addition, it has videos of both accidents and airbag deployments on these pages:

http://www.airbagsolutions.com/resources...

http://www.airbagsolutions.com/movie.asp...

http://www.airbagsolutions.com/movie9.as...

It also has a lot of information for you to check your own vehicle, like the recall search pages for both the USA and Canada:

http://www.airbagsolutions.com/nhtsa.asp...

http://www.airbagsolutions.com/Canada.as...

Lots of insurance companies and body shops use this site for the information they need to repair your car.

I hope I helped you

Answer 3

I am not a South Carolina Lawyer, but I looked up the issue for you.  This appears to be the relevant statute.

Code of Laws of South Carolina 1976 Annotated Currentness

Title 56. Motor Vehicles

It looks like so long as the child is over 6 in SC there is no need for a child seat.  One of the questions

Chapter 5. Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on Highways

Article 47. Child Passenger Restraint System

§ 56-5-6410. Child passenger restraint systems; age and weight as basis for required restraining system; standards.

Every driver of a motor vehicle (passenger car, pickup truck, van, or recreational vehicle) operated on the highways and streets of this State when transporting a child five years of age or younger upon the public streets and highways of the State must provide an appropriate child passenger restraint system and must secure the child as follows:

(1) A child from birth up to one year of age or who weighs less than twenty pounds must be properly secured in a rear-facing child safety seat which meets the standards prescribed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

(2) A child who is at least one year of age but less than six years of age and who weighs at least twenty pounds but less than forty pounds must be secured in a forward-facing child safety seat provided in the motor vehicle which meets the standards prescribed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

(3) A child who is at least one year of age but less than six years of age and who weighs at least forty pounds but not more than eighty pounds must be secured by a belt-positioning booster seat. The belt-positioning booster seat must be used with both lap and shoulder belts. A booster seat must not be used with a lap belt alone.

(4) If a child is at least one year of age but less than six years of age and weighs more than eighty pounds, the child may be restrained in an adult safety belt. If a child less than six years of age can sit with his back straight against the vehicle seat back cushion, with his knees bent over the vehicle's seat edge without slouching, the child may be seated in the regular back seat and secured by an adult safety belt.

(5) A child who is less than six years of age must not occupy a front passenger seat of a motor vehicle. This restriction does not apply if the motor vehicle does not have rear passenger seats or if all rear passenger seats are occupied by other children less than six years of age.

Any child restraint system of a type sufficient to meet the physical standards prescribed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration at the time of its manufacture is sufficient to meet the requirements of this article.

HISTORY: 1983 Act No. 2 § 1; 1988 Act No. 532, § 16; 1999 Act No. 115, § 12; 2001 Act No. 65, § 1.

Code 1976 § 56-5-6410, SC ST § 56-5-6410

Current through End of 2007 Reg. Sess.

COPYRIGHT © 2007 BY THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA

END OF DOCUMENT

Based upon my read, your infant must be rear facing until he or she is 1 year old.  I would think that some of the social agencies might be able to provide a seat for you.  Otherwise, you should be able to find a compliant one

I looked on the BabiesRUs website and the cheapest convertable seat is around $60.00.  I am hopeful you will be able to find some people to help you obtain one.

I checked out another site for you. Take a look at it.  It looks like you can use a booster seat for your 7 year old in the front if necessary and so long as your child is over 6 then in SC it does not need to be in a child seat.

http://www.aap.org/family/Carseatguide.h...

Answer 4

I understand that sometimes we have to make choices we really don't want to but don't put that child in the front with an active airbag. It may not be illegal but it's damned unsafe. I'd suggest talking to the dealer, for your car model. Explain the situation and ask them if there is anyway to disable the air bag. Good luck and keep the little ones safe.