Letter in Sprint

[jon h]

Reading the latest Sprint, I was interested in the letter about the installation of a baby carrier on the shelf behind the driver's seat in a Chim. We have a Griff and a new arrival to the household (Girl, 3 weeks ago), and I have thought for a while that with a decent bit of engineering to put some mounting points in place, there is plenty of room to fit a carrycot or baby seat, and it could be very strong, attached directly to the chassis. BUT it seems to be a very grey area from the legal/insurance point of view as the car is listed as a 2 seater on the V5. I have heard lots of opinions on the matter. Does anyone have a definitive answer, or am I just going to have to buy a Cerby!

Jon H

[Tam Lin]

Legal aspects aside, the thing that would worry me most are the consequences of rolling the car. Still, it's your baby..

We chose the Cerby route
1) It's got 2+2 seats
2) It's got a rollcage
3) It's easier to drive (less low-down torque to break traction, more forgiving suspension settings, better brakes)
4) Not as pretty as the Griff, but it is quicker

Enjoy..

[burriana500]

i too have thought about how to fit a baby seat/carrier to the Griff and came to the conclusion that no way can it be construed as being legal... three people are three people no matter how small they are, and a two seater car is only for two people... no ifs, no buts...

then there's the thought of rolling.. shudders

[simpo two]

Anaeshetise it with sherry and stick it in the boot.

[smifffy]

simpo two said:

Anaeshetise it with sherry and stick it in the boot.

[wrinkly]

simpo two said:

Anaeshetise it with sherry and stick it in the boot.

Or stick it on the bonnet as a mascot, the noise it will make will also warn people of your approach and hopefully make your trip a bit quicker.

[joospeed]

bolt something in, take it for sva and see if that works for changing it to say 3 seats?

[phil_vernall]

For very small children seats should be rearward facing so I wouldn't think the seat would fit?

[johno]

The consequences of a frontal impact at speed are serious .... consider that the seat may not move, but the baby inside it will. The belts are designed to take a loading coming from front or rear and not as high from the sides. The child may stay in the seat, but the thought of its head waggling around is quite shocking ...

There again, I did spend most of my years as a baby shoved into the back of a variety of 2 seater sports cars without a seat at all and I'm still here !

[NigeW]

... and I never wore a cycle helmet, a seatbelt in the back of a car nor a dayglow reflective jacket and helmet when playing on unlocked building sites ... and equally irresponsibly my 11 year old son used to travel on the parcel shelf in the Chimaera and now as a 12 year old still fits on the shelf in the Tamora.

[yiw1393]

NigeW said:

... my 11 year old son used to travel on the parcel shelf in the Chimaera and now as a 12 year old still fits on the shelf in the Tamora.

This is clearly not an offence. Since December the first, this is part of your new hands free kit for the mobile - complete with auto answer, voice dialling,etc.

[simpo two]

I've driven about 40 miles with a large Labrador on the parcel shelf (cue DoubleTake brothers...)

It was quite content and had the wits not to jump out!

[Nick P]

phil_vernall said:

For very small children seats should be rearward facing so I wouldn't think the seat would fit?

I use a rear facing seat for my 9 week old daughter...only trouble is the missus now has to stay at home...then again thats a bonus

[gazzab]

have you tried velcro baby grows?

[jam1et]

There have been many crash tests and studies recently that have shown that the majority of child seats are worse than useless. Therefore, I would think it highly unlikely that the average person at home would be able to manufacture some kind of 'baby system' for the parcel shelf that was safe.

Having said that, my Spaniel travels on the parcel shelf in my Griff. She wears a dog harness which is secured to the roof struts using a rock climbing sling and carrabinas. This prevents her from jumping out or hitting me in the back of the head in the result of an accident.

[simpo two]

jam1et said:

Having said that, my Spaniel travels on the parcel shelf in my Griff. She wears a dog harness which is secured to the roof struts using a rock climbing sling and carrabinas.

Talented dog! Has she tried mountain-climbing yet?

[shpub]

jam1et said:

Having said that, my Spaniel travels on the parcel shelf in my Griff. She wears a dog harness which is secured to the roof struts using a rock climbing sling and carrabinas. This prevents her from jumping out or hitting me in the back of the head in the result of an accident.

The roof struts are only bolted through the fibre glass and are fine for the job that they were intended. In an accident they would pull out just like that. They are not same anchorage points at all.

It would be better to use the rear harness belt mounts if your car was post 96. Before than I would try and rig something to the chassis. A dog is still a heavy lump when suddenly accelerated to 30+ mph.

[raceboy]

shpub said:

A dog is still a heavy lump when suddenly accelerated to 30+ mph.

Especially after watching 5th Gear last night, a hard back atlas on the parcel shelf of a car crashing at 30mph smashed the windscreen

[count duckula]

raceboy said:

shpub said: A dog is still a heavy lump when suddenly accelerated to 30+ mph. Especially after watching 5th Gear last night, a hard back atlas on the parcel shelf of a car crashing at 30mph smashed the windscreen

Did you see the toy dog, that thing looked like Super Dog.



Malc

[Gaffer]

I always traveled on the parcel shelf - got many a minutes kip

Then I got promoted to the Dog Seat when Dad was using Peters car.

Never did me any harm.

Claire