Child seat in front of s211

[Ricardo_e220]

Hi I need to try and make space to get 3 adults and my 2 little ones in the car over Xmas, the 3rd adult won't fit between the large kid seats, so can I disable the airbag so I can move one seat forward as squeeze 2 adults in the back? I can't seem to find a key switch off like other cars I've had.

Tia

 

[Uncle Benz]

You need a child seat with a transponder in it to disable the airbag.

 

[Troon]

Depending on how old and robust the child is, you may not need to disable it. I'm happy for our future-rugby-player 3½ year old to travel in the front when necessary (e.g. back seats down) with the bag active. He's in a proper seat, with everything adjusted to keep him as high up as possible and properly restrained by the seat belt, and with the seat moved as far back as possible.

Should the bag deploy in an accident, I'm confident it wouldn't cause him any harm - and I've seen airbags deploy in testing, and am a seasoned watcher of NCAP crash tests, so I know what they do. In the unlikely event of a major smash (read "car-shrinkingly major"), I'd much rather have the bag active for him.

Obviously, don't even consider doing this with a rear-facing seat.

Alternatively, have you tried fitting the child seats outboard and centre rear, leaving one of the outboard seats for the other adult? We regularly travel with three kids in the back: booster on one outboard, booster-and-back on the centre and eldest (11) on the other outboard. It's a bit cosy, and seat belt extensions help a lot, but we've done over 650 miles in a day like that.

 

[Ricardo_e220]

Thanks both, mark is going to be short journeys only, so lower risk I hope, no chance of moving the seats together as they are still stage 1-2, ill experiment later! The eldest is ok in the front of my Elise but that doest have an airbag

 

[Troon]

You might also find that if the child seat doesn't put weight in the centre of the passenger seat, the bag might disable without the transponder. I've noticed this when I've had light stuff on the front seat retained with the seatbelt: the light by the hazard switch comes on.

 

[Blobcat]

Thanks both, mark is going to be short journeys only, so lower risk I hope, no chance of moving the seats together as they are still stage 1-2, ill experiment later! The eldest is ok in the front of my Elise but that doest have an airbag

I can't remember the survey but most accidents are within 2.5 miles of home... I think it's because drivers are thinking about something else rather than concentrating on the driving.