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Car Forum / Saab Cars / June 2005

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Baby saftey seat and airbags

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Keith - 28 Jun 2005 20:06 GMT
My 2001 9-3 is not fitted with a passanger front air bag but it does have a
side airbag on both sides. I am aware that the baby seat should not be
placed on the front seat if an airbag is active, but does that also include
side airbags? If so, is the dealer able to deactivate the passanger side
airbag?

thanks, Keith
Dave Hinz - 28 Jun 2005 20:12 GMT
> My 2001 9-3 is not fitted with a passanger front air bag but it does have a
> side airbag on both sides. I am aware that the baby seat should not be
> placed on the front seat if an airbag is active, but does that also include
> side airbags? If so, is the dealer able to deactivate the passanger side
> airbag?

The answer to your question might depend on where in the world you are.
Keith - 28 Jun 2005 20:25 GMT
> The answer to your question might depend on where in the world you are.

Sorry, I am in Finland. Just to make myself clear I am asking about the
passanger-side side impact airbag.

keith
Saab Guy - 28 Jun 2005 20:13 GMT
> My 2001 9-3 is not fitted with a passanger front air bag but it does have a
> side airbag on both sides. I am aware that the baby seat should not be
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> thanks, Keith

Kevin,

Why aren't you putting the baby in the rear seat behind the driver's seat???

SaabGuy
gw - 28 Jun 2005 20:16 GMT
> My 2001 9-3 is not fitted with a passanger front air bag but it does have a
> side airbag on both sides. I am aware that the baby seat should not be
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> thanks, Keith

A baby seat should not be placed in the front seat of any 4-seat car, airbag
or not. If there is a rear seat, it should go there. The only exception is
2-seat vehicles, such as pickup trucks. These will have a disable function
for the passenger bag.

Much higher survival potential in the rear.
Saab Guy - 28 Jun 2005 20:22 GMT
> > My 2001 9-3 is not fitted with a passanger front air bag but it does have
> a
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>
> Much higher survival potential in the rear.

Exactly GW.

A child seat should ALWAYS be in the rear, and NOT the center rear because of the "projectile" possibility, either the REAR pass or driver seat ONLY.

SaabGuy
Keith - 28 Jun 2005 20:56 GMT
> A child seat should ALWAYS be in the rear, and NOT the center rear because of the "projectile" possibility, either the REAR pass or driver seat ONLY.
>
> SaabGuy

I agree, my child has always been on the rear seat. My situation is that I
am moving to a house 2 km away from my present dewling and the road between
these two houses has a speed limit of 30kmh. I would like to drop the rear
seats down to carry some stuff to the new place over the next month. I may
not be able to always get someone to watch my child during these random
times. Thefore, I will make an exception and put the baby seat on the front
seat if the side-impact airbag will not potentionaly harm my child or if it
can be disarmed for the duration of my move.

From google I can only find "warnings" about passanger-side front airbags
not side impact airbags. Many newer cars have side-impact airbags on the
rear seats, should these be disarmed before carrying a child on the rear
seat?
Henrik B. - 29 Jun 2005 13:57 GMT
>> A child seat should ALWAYS be in the rear, and NOT the center rear
>> because
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> rear seats, should these be disarmed before carrying a child on the rear
> seat?

Keith, I wouldn't worry about the Side-airbag, as you'd want something to
protect the childseat, in case you get hit in that side of the car.

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Saab - Fordi livet er for kort til biler med dårlig sikkerhed!

th - 28 Jun 2005 21:29 GMT
>>>My 2001 9-3 is not fitted with a passanger front air bag but it does have
>>
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
>
> A child seat should ALWAYS be in the rear, and NOT the center rear because of the "projectile" possibility, either the REAR pass or driver seat ONLY.

If the child seat is located in the rear seat the best location is
actually in the centre, because there you have the best protection from
side impacts. With modern child seats, at least the ones we've had in
Sweden for the past 15 years, there is no "projectile" effect as they
are so tightly coupled to the seat.

The Saab designers (as well as the Volvo designers) have really adopted
the Swedish traffic safety research and made the 9-5 the safest car in
the world in real traffic accidents. I hope that also some of the
Swedish ideas about child seating and child safety in cars (we have the
lowest car accident infant mortality in the world) would be adopted by
the rest of the society, saving the lives of many children.

Signature

th

Malt_Hound - 28 Jun 2005 21:41 GMT
>>>> My 2001 9-3 is not fitted with a passanger front air bag but it does
>>>> have
[quoted text clipped - 40 lines]
> lowest car accident infant mortality in the world) would be adopted by
> the rest of the society, saving the lives of many children.  

All this fuss, to what end?  We've got too many damn babies already in
this world.  What's the big deal about protecting a few more of them?

Up on the roof rack!, I say...  I'm sure I saw a car seat attachment
listed in the Thule catalog...

-Fred W
Malt_Hound - 28 Jun 2005 21:35 GMT
>>>My 2001 9-3 is not fitted with a passanger front air bag but it does have
>>
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
>
> SaabGuy

Nah.  I always strapped my kids' car seats up on the roof rack.  Much
sturdier restraint, they're up there out of harm's way, and that way
they also get a better view.  But never, ever forget to put on their
goggles.  Not even once.  The bugs can do some serious eye damage at
highway speeds.

You only get dealt one pair of eyes you know...

;-)

-Fred W
th - 28 Jun 2005 21:59 GMT
>>>> My 2001 9-3 is not fitted with a passanger front air bag but it does
>>>> have
[quoted text clipped - 37 lines]
>
> You only get dealt one pair of eyes you know...

I guess you don't drive one of those easily tilted SUVs?

Signature

th

hippo - 29 Jun 2005 11:27 GMT
>guess you don't drive one of those easily tilted SUVs?

But even if he does, but that's ok; Thule also market canoe racks with
wheels on the ends.... Cheers
th - 28 Jun 2005 21:17 GMT
>>My 2001 9-3 is not fitted with a passanger front air bag but it does have
>
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
>
> Much higher survival potential in the rear.

No, the last statement is simply not true. Look in the alt.autos.saab
thread "9-5 Passenger Airbag - how to disable?" started 9 April 2003
where I tried to show that most research from real accidents shows that
the front seat is the safest (of course provided that the passenger
airbag is removed or disabled).

It is mainly the car industry that markets the idea that the rear seat
is the safest to avoid being forced to invent safe methods to disable
the passenger airbag and to give enough room for rear-facing child seats
in the front.

Signature

th

Blacksmith - 28 Jun 2005 21:20 GMT
>> My 2001 9-3 is not fitted with a passanger front air bag but it does have
> a
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>
> Much higher survival potential in the rear.

No No No!! A child shall be be placed in the front passenger seat with a
special babyseat mounted. Airbag switched off. Here in Sweden we have used
this for a long time and this have saved a lot of babies. I don´t know why
you still drive with the small kids in the back. The child fly like a stone
the whole way from the back and hits the windscreen if you hit something.

When your child is older is another thing.

/B
th - 28 Jun 2005 21:55 GMT
>>>My 2001 9-3 is not fitted with a passanger front air bag but it does have
>>
[quoted text clipped - 25 lines]
>
> When your child is older is another thing.

The main problem is that the age limit is considered to be different in
different countries. In US the NHTSA recommends to keep the children
rear faced at least up to 12 months of age. This is completely crazy!!!!
All real accident statistics show that if the children are rear faced up
to say 4 years the mortality drastically decreases.

I have seen a diagram in a newspaper comparing infant mortality age by
age in Sweden and Germany (where they start placing the children
front-facing at the age of about 1 year. For the first year the figures
are comparable but between the age of 1 and 4 about twice as many German
children are killed as in Sweden (all relative numbers of course).

I will try to post a link if I can find the diagram on the web.

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th

th - 29 Jun 2005 20:46 GMT
>>>> My 2001 9-3 is not fitted with a passanger front air bag but it does
>>>> have
[quoted text clipped - 44 lines]
>
> I will try to post a link if I can find the diagram on the web.

Not nice replying to your own posts but here is a link to the diagram:

http://www.folksam.se/resurser/pdf/Folksam_Fara_br_forsk.pdf
In Swedish sorry, but look at page 8 where the risk of death or injury
between Sweden and Germany is compared

The German situation is even worse than I remembered. When you start
placing children front facing at the age of 1, like is common in
Germany, the death/injury risk is increased by a factor of 4-5 compared
with rear-face seating. In Sweden there is an increase in injury rate at
the age of 4 when most parents start turning their children front-facing
 (NHTSA should see these figures and hopefully change their
recommendation for preschoolers/toddlers, saving the lifes of quite some
amount of US children!).

Note also that today it is even more important that the child is
rear-seated with _no_ seat belt slack (= stuck tight to the dashboard)
as modern cars are stiffer, maintain the passenger volume more intact
and thus generate higher collision retardation forces than cars from the
80-ies (page 9 of the report)

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th

Henrik B. - 29 Jun 2005 13:56 GMT
> No No No!! A child shall be be placed in the front passenger seat with a
> special babyseat mounted. Airbag switched off. Here in Sweden we have used
> this for a long time and this have saved a lot of babies. I don´t know why
> you still drive with the small kids in the back. The child fly like a
> stone the whole way from the back and hits the windscreen if you hit
> something.

Rubbish!

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Saab - Fordi livet er for kort til biler med dårlig sikkerhed!

Blacksmith - 29 Jun 2005 18:05 GMT
>> No No No!! A child shall be be placed in the front passenger seat with a
>> special babyseat mounted. Airbag switched off. Here in Sweden we have
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>
> Rubbish!

You Danes should just shut up and keep on drinking your beer! You don´t know
anything about carsafety.
Dave Hinz - 29 Jun 2005 19:37 GMT
>> Rubbish!

> You Danes should just shut up and keep on drinking your beer! You don´t know
> anything about carsafety.

Wow.  Great attitude you have there, Sparky.  Real pleasure to have you
around, it is.
Henrik B. - 29 Jun 2005 22:19 GMT
>>> No No No!! A child shall be be placed in the front passenger seat with a
>>> special babyseat mounted. Airbag switched off. Here in Sweden we have
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> You Danes should just shut up and keep on drinking your beer! You don´t
> know anything about carsafety.

We obviously know more than you, when you can say such crap! A properly
restraint childseat, won't go anyway. No matter if it's mounted in the front
or in the back!

Signature

----------------------------------------------------------
Saab - Fordi livet er for kort til biler med dårlig sikkerhed!

Dave Hinz - 29 Jun 2005 19:34 GMT
>> No No No!! A child shall be be placed in the front passenger seat with a
>> special babyseat mounted. Airbag switched off. Here in Sweden we have used
>> this for a long time and this have saved a lot of babies.

> Rubbish!

Didn't we just do this a couple months or a year ago here?  The
technology varies, a lot, by country, as do the laws.  Maybe someone
could post a picture of a Swedish baby seat in the front seat so people
know that it's a different kind of beast entirely?
th - 29 Jun 2005 21:18 GMT
>>>No No No!! A child shall be be placed in the front passenger seat with a
>>>special babyseat mounted. Airbag switched off. Here in Sweden we have used
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> could post a picture of a Swedish baby seat in the front seat so people
> know that it's a different kind of beast entirely?

I don't think the seats are that different, it's the use which is
different. A quick picture from the web site of the Swedish National
Society for Road Safety:
http://www.ntf.se/konsument/barnibil/
Have you ever seen a child of that age rear-facing?

Unfortunately the trend in Sweden is negative. We are more and more
influenced by rest of the world. In 1998 71% of the children between 9
months and 3 years were rear-faced. 2003 this figure has dropped to 59%.
Also the percentage of passenger seating decreased from 77% to 51%, this
is probably more related to passenger side airbags, that were introduced
very late in Sweden. For instance I don't think any or very few 9000
were sold with passenger side airbag over here.

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th


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