Passenger airbag kid safe?

[TEG]

Can the passenger airbag be turned off? (looks like a little kid in the passenger seat there on San Antonio Road)

[WarpedOne]

>> Can the passenger airbag be turned off?

You think no airbag is better than normal airbag for kids?

[TEG]

Kids Safety First
"Q. What do I do if my car or truck does not have a back seat or if the back seat is too small to fit a child safety seat?
A. If you must transport your child in the front passenger seat of your vehicle, first determine if your vehicle is equipped with a passenger front airbag. If it is, determine if your vehicle is equipped with an airbag deactivation switch. Newer vehicles that do not have a rear seat, especially pick-up trucks, are typically equipped with a deactivation switch that is operated using the ignition key. If your vehicle is equipped with a deactivation switch, turn the passenger front airbag “off”, then move the front passenger seat to its rear most position."

...

"Q. Can I put a child in the front passenger seat of my car?
A. ... first determine if your vehicle is equipped with a passenger front airbag. If it is, determine if your vehicle is equipped with an airbag deactivation switch. Newer vehicles that do not have a rear seat, especially pick-up trucks, are typically equipped with a deactivation switch that is operated using the ignition key. If your vehicle is equipped with a deactivation switch, turn the passenger front airbag “off”, then move the front passenger seat to its rear most position."


California Safety Laws - Cell Phone, Seat Belt, Car Seat, Child Safety Laws in CA - DMV.ORG
"...Children under age 12 should always ride in the back due to the danger of airbags hitting them too low...."

EXCLUSIVE: Ferrari F430 Sales May Be Banned in U.S. for Airbag Issues
"...It isn't that the F430's airbags aren't safe — they meet or exceed most NHTSA guidelines. But the F430 lacks sufficient protection for a small number of female occupants who aren't strapped into the correct position in the event of a crash. The same problem applies to child occupants....

Ferrari points out that only 13 percent of its owners have children under the age of 6, so that it is unlikely that many kids will ride in one of the waived cars. Further, the company pledges to provide, free of charge to any customer who requests it, a special child seat which will automatically deactivate the passenger's side airbag. The cars will also feature a manual cutoff switch for the passenger's side airbag."


Lotus Elise North America :: PureSportsCar.com - airbag shutoff
"...Nick Adams told me that there is no provision for the passenger side airbag to be shut off. He said that the reason for this is that a child car seat will not fit in the passenger seat of the Elise, therefore, Lotus does not recommend carrying small children in that seat. Apparently, this topic consummed many hours of discussion by the design team to arrive at this decision. I hope this helps..."

final word on kids and passenger side airbag? - Page 3 - LotusTalk- The Lotus Cars Community
"It'd be nice if Lotus could weight in on this. I would imagine they've done some level of safety testing with small passengers.
They already have, in the owner's manual pages 7-8, 19-20, 23, and mainly 26-27 . Unfortunately they have to take the safest legal position (at least here in the colonies) and advise that children not ride in the car at all.
...Take a look at the pages I referenced in your owner's manual. They all talk about how children should not ride in the car b/c it has airbags that can not be turned off."


Does the airbag waiver mean the Tesla Roadster isn't safe for kids? - AutoblogGreen
""The upgrade (which Tesla doesn't yet have) was designed to meet the goals of improving protection for occupants of all sizes, belted and unbelted, in moderate-to-high-speed crashes, and of minimizing the risks posed by air bags to infants, children, and other occupants, especially in lowspeed crashes." That's why, as I hope you know, if you drive with small kids you should turn off the non-advanced air bags in their seats or seat them in the back (consult your car's manual for details).""
...""Tesla stated that it is unlikely that young children would be passengers in the Roadster, so an exemption from the advanced air bag requirements that are designed to protect children will not create a significant safety issue."...



My RangerEV truck has a passenger airbag deactivation switch and it says to use it when children are riding there. I think the "advanced airbags" (which Tesla doesn't have yet) may be designed to offer reduced force for smaller passengers, but I really don't know the answer.




Perhaps all of this is just "hoopla" or "much ado about nothing?"
I wonder what the Tesla owner's manual will say about children riding in the passenger seat?

[TEG]

Air Bag Switch Installed - LotusTalk- The Lotus Cars Community

[TEG]

Actually I just found something on Siry's blog:

Horseless Age: hot-airbags

...To ensure safety, Roadster owners will be warned, upon delivery of the vehicle, about allowing children to ride in the front seat. “But it is not too often that you see children in the front seat of a sports car,” Siry said

[WarpedOne]

Now this is something new to me.

I knew airbag should be turned off if you had a baby seated in a childseat in front - but for all kids? Up to what age / height / weight? Until he turns 21?

[klinkows]

Has anyone successfully installed one of these so a child can ride in the passenger seat of a roadster?

[doug]

You know, I think I have heard of an owner getting one installed. Don't remember who, though.

[RGB]

There's a thread about this in the owners section.

[DRM]

So I finally got around to installing the airbag switch on Wednesday. It was an absolute pain in the @$$. Had to remove the entire dash, including a large number of non-intuitive clips & velcro connectors. The result is great. The airbag switch is hidden nicely in the passenger footwell.

//dan.



(more pix HERE)

EDIT: I don't seem to be successful at inserting a pix, but the link appears to work. Follow the link for pix of a disassembled Tesla dash....