If the car seat is placed in the front seat and the air bag inflates, it could hit the back of a rear-facing car seat — right where the child’s head is — and cause a serious or fatal injury.
Can you put a child seat in the front of a car?
A: Yes, although it is safer for children to travel in the rear of the car. If you must put a forward-facing seat in the front when there is an airbag present, make sure that the car seat is as far back as possible and the child seat is securely held to maximise the distance between the child and the airbag.
Why can’t car seats go in the front?
In a head-on crash (the most common — and deadly — type of collision), a child in the front seat can be thrown into your car’s dashboard or through the windshield. … What’s more, passenger air bags inflate with such force that they can cause severe head and neck injuries to a child.
When can my child sit in the front?
Children aged 7 years and over can travel in the front seat. However, research shows that children under 12 years are much safer travelling in the back seat.
Is height or weight more important for car seats?
In other words, the fit is best determined by height and weight of the child, and is not specific to age,” Dau explains. … Most car seat manufacturers recommend children remain in a rear-facing seat until they reach 30-40 pounds. Forward-facing car seats range in weight limits between 40 and 80 pounds.
Can two car seats touch?
Adjacent car seats can’t keep the other car seats installed correctly — each car seat in each configuration must be installed correctly.
Can 18 month old face forward in car seat?
All manufacturers of convertible safety seats — the kind that can be rear- or forward-facing — say in the instructions that the seat must be rear-facing until the child reaches 1 year and 20 or 22 pounds, local officials said. Child safety specialists said they have long known that rear-facing is safest for all ages.
Can a 7 year old sit in the front of a car?
Airbag Precautions
Even at the age of 7 and at the height of 140cm your is still at risk from the car airbag if he is in the front seat of a car. As a guide children under the age of 12 should sit in the back seat on the correct child seat for their age, so for your son of 7 that would be a booster seat.
Do you turn the airbag off if a child is in the front?
In a post on Facebook, Child Seat Safety says children below the age of 12-years-old ‘are the most at risk when the frontal airbag deploys in a crash’. The post also stresses that for anyone putting a rear facing child seat in the front passenger seat, it’s a legal requirement to first deactivate the airbag.
Is it against the law for a child not to be in a car seat?
A child aged 3 or older can travel in a back seat without a child car seat and without a seat belt if the vehicle doesn’t have one. In most cases, children under 3 must always be in a child car seat. The rules are different if: the child is in a taxi or minicab.