Does a side curtain airbag affect a baby car seat?

Believe it or not, my wife actually wants me to use this forum! Normally she despises me spending time researching.


Does anyone have experience or technical knowledge to answer the question? No offense, I'm not looking for an opinion...because I have plenty of my own. My wife wants solid proof that side curtain airbags will not negatively impact our baby placed in a car seat directly next to the back doors.

I would think it would be ok to place a car seat next to a door with side airbags, but I'm not a "technical expert".
I think its safer to place a baby in the center seat and that's where the car seat is now...but in case we had to move it, or had another car seat is the reason for the question.

Thanks for your time,
Diggler

*2002 Jetta Wagon*

The reason they tell you to not place a baby in the front seat where there is an airbag (unless you can turn it off) is because the airbag is designed to work with people of a minimum height. Side curtains do not pose that problem as they only prevent the head from hitting the window. Your baby will hit the sides of the padded baby seat and won't even come in contact with the curtain.

I don't think you will get "solid proof" on this site. We are TDI enthusiasts, not safety engineers. Perhaps you could look up some government website that would have the information you seek.

Pepper's pretty much right. The bags in the seat are more or less at the shoulder level and are to prevent you from hitting the door.

hi,

try looking at nhtsa's home page. they are the one of the agencies that are responsible for stuff like that. I took a 40hr child safety seat class a few years ago and we were told the middle was the safest spot, but witht the airbags you might want to look at the child seat's intruction manual or check out the manufacture's website as well as Nhtsa's