Deactivating Passenger Airbags

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Mon 15 Sep 2003 11:05
Deactivating Passenger Airbags - Lance
Dear all...I'm new to the site so forgive me is this thread has already been covered (I did search first). I need to fit a rearward-facing newborn baby seat in the front of my Freelander. The vehicle doesnt have a deactivation switch or transponder (a la Mercedes) and Land Rover Dealers have no interest due to liability concerns. So much for the "ideal family car" they advertise....
Does anyone know of a reputable, liability-insured, company that will do the work for me? I live in Surrey
Thanks
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Mon 15 Sep 2003 11:24
Deactivating Passenger Airbags - Altea Ego
The trouble is the liability insurance will not cover any company for this job. If the car is fitted with this as standard, and the manufacturer provides no customer interface or service bulletin (in fact most say DONT) to disable the bag then they wont do it. Anyone who will is a cowboy. In the event of an accident anyone sitting in the passenger seat who is injured will sue YOU and the person who did the mod.

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Mon 15 Sep 2003 11:56
Deactivating Passenger Airbags - BB
I have worked in automotive seating for a few years and my contribution to this discussion is to never put a baby seat in the front.
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Mon 15 Sep 2003 13:51
Deactivating Passenger Airbags - Lance
Thanks. I'll take this as very good advice
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Mon 15 Sep 2003 15:14
Deactivating Passenger Airbags - Mark (RLBS)
For rear-facing seats I understand the "no children in the front".

However, for forward facing child seats;

I could have the front seat a long way back. If we have hit something so hard that my daughter is flying forward, even against the straps in her seat, and much as hitting an airbag is dodgy for little people, surely it must be better to hit that than the back of one of the front seats, and better for a child to be stopped by a big bag across the whole body rather than a few straps ?

And if she isn't thrown hard forward against her straps, then she either wouldn't hit the bag, or it would have lost much of its initial speed by the time she did.
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Mon 15 Sep 2003 15:48
Deactivating Passenger Airbags - Hairy Hat Man
Firstly, I have absolutely no qualifications or experience to substantiate my views on this....

I would imagine that a small child moving forward against the restraint of a child restraint would meet an oncoming airbag in a completly different way to an adult. It may be that the airbag would only make contact with the head rather than the whole upper body, throwing the head backwards against the motion of travel - could this not break the childs neck? I certainly won't be trying it to find out.
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Mon 15 Sep 2003 16:25
Deactivating Passenger Airbags - BB
A deploying airbag would certainly cause more damage to a child than an adult.
IMO the safest place for a child to be is in the back with a correctly fitted child seat. Please, please, please make sure that you choose a good child seat, and note that the most expensive aren't always the best.
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Wed 17 Sep 2003 10:31
Deactivating Passenger Airbags - Lance
Have done, thanks. Reading the latest AA and Which crash tests its amazing how variable the performances are despite common euro standards. Anyone know how to get hold of the German Romer seats? It looks like they were bought out by Britax, but Britax UK wont supply them and their own UK ones are fairly average at best if the tests are to be believed.
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Tue 16 Sep 2003 23:02
Deactivating Passenger Airbags - Cyd
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=4&t=95...#
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Choosing a child seat can be a quite baffling experience – there are so many sizes, types, brands and price points available that you might not know where to start.

How to choose the right child seat