Child seat and sitting in front of car in passenger seat?

[jondude]

My nephew (6) really wants to drive as a passenger in the front of the car. He has the standard child seat, where his back rests against the backrest, which covers his whole back and has a neck/head support.

I am getting conflicting advice about legality and that I must disconnect the airbag, which I don't think is possible on my car.

Can someone tell me with confidence what the position is? Just want to do the right thing.

[MrTrilby]

It's legal. Check the stickers on your car, but you usually only need to disconnect the airbag for rear facing seats, which his is not. That said, you can improve safety by adjusting the passenger seat as far back as it will go, putting it as far away from the airbag as possible. You can improve safety even more by seating them in the back.

[Cyberprog]

Q: Is it legal for my child to travel in the front passenger seat?

A: Yes, but it is safer for children to travel in the rear seats.

If your child is under 12 years old they must use an appropriate child restraint, unless they are over 135cm in height. Once a child is taller than 135cm, they can use the car's seat belt, regardless of their age. It is the driver's responsibility to ensure that every passenger under 14 is in a child seat or is using a seat belt according to the law.

It is illegal to put a child in a rearward facing child car seat in the front passenger seat, if there is an active passenger airbag.

[jondude]

Thanks all, appreciated.

[Pica-Pica]

Even better to check here rather than PH
https://www.gov.uk/child-car-seats-the-rules

Now, who would have thought that?

[foxsasha]

Understanding is that you shouldn't put younger kids Inn The front, forward facing or not, until they reach a certain weight. Finding the details on to the weight is difficult as age is more often quoted, 13 years old. Younger lighter kids can suffer serious injuries when the airbag deploys.

[jondude]

foxsasha said:

Understanding is that you shouldn't put younger kids Inn The front, forward facing or not, until they reach a certain weight. Finding the details on to the weight is difficult as age is more often quoted, 13 years old. Younger lighter kids can suffer serious injuries when the airbag deploys.

This was indeed why I am out to get more information - and to be honest I had never seen a rearward facing child seat so wanted to be sure that wasn't somehow covering certain types of standard seats.

I was living overseas for ages in Asia where few, if any use child seats.

[dvs_dave]

Front passenger seat is no problem (just think of a 2 seat vehicle, no problem there so why should it be in a vehicle with rear seats?), as long as the airbag is activated/deactivated appropriately for the type of child restraint system being used. Many cars these days have built in sensors in the seat that can tell if a child seat us in use and automatically deactivate the passenger seat airbags. However you MUST check your car’s user manual to confirm how your particular car works.

[jondude]

Pica-Pica said:

Even better to check here rather than PH
https://www.gov.uk/child-car-seats-the-rules

Now, who would have thought that?

In Pistonheads we trust......