Kids, Car Seats, Sports Cars and Airbags...

Big can o' worms time!

I have a three year old who currently enjoys riding in the tiny back seat of a twenty year old car. I am thinking about replacing that car with a much newer two seat car that would have a passenger side airbag.

The child seat is mandatory. Obviously, the safe place for kids is in the back, but, if there is no back seat, you have no choice. The passenger side airbag could be switched off.

Would you rather have your kid in the back seat of an old sports car, or the front of a newer car with the airbag off?

Discuss...

How new? Rollover protection?

Neither.

I let my kids ride with a booster seat in the front seat of the Miata with the airbag off or in the back of my Porsches with a seat belt in. But I only allow this going around the neighborhood to a friend's house or the pool at 20 mph. If we are hitting regular roads, they are going to be in a late model car with a great safety record, a bazillion air bags and other safety features. I understand people that are willing to take a small risk to do otherwise. I don't have a big problem with it. I just won't take even a small gamble with what I can't afford to lose.

I remember being 7 and riding around in the back of my Dad's 68 AMX (2-seater) with nothing holding me in except for the rollbar. Did I mention it goes low 11's at 140?

That being said, I definitely wouldn't do the same to my child (even though it is one of my best all-time childhood memories!). I would feel more comfortable with a kid in the backseat of my 944 than in the front seat of any Miata.

Until they are big enough, the front seat is not very safe (crush zones could impact car seat, flying glass, airbag on/off might not work, etc, etc). I'd much prefer the back seat in the proper child seat (again, I don't ever remember having a car seat, just sliding back and forth on acres of smooth vinyl bench seat).

I say do it. I believe it is plenty safe enough.

I would rather the miata with the airbag off than the older car.

that said: one of my fondest memories was sitting on the trunk of a friend's mom's Alfa with my feet where my ass should be, going downtown.

Perspectives change. My parents didn't even have an infant seat when I was a kid - I was held in someone's lap until I was old enough for a booster, and that style booster would never pass any test today.

I always loved the package tray in my dads Impala. No belts, or any safety gear. Laying there after dark watching the stars go by through the back window is one of my fondest memories from when I was a kid.

My kids have ridden in the front of the RX-7 many times with a car seat, and as they get older without. I didn't and don't sweat it. I've even been known to take them out in a field and cut doughnuts just to hear them laugh. Life's too short to be scared of dieing all the time. That said, I won't let them ride in the front of my vans because the airbags can't be turned off.

ahh.. yes.. the good old days.. one of the few memories i have of my entire family being together when i was a kid before one of my brothers and then my dad died was mom, dad, me, and my 3 young brothers tooling around town eating ice cream in my dad's nailhead powered '30 Model A street rod.. not only did we not have car seats or even seat belts, but the driver and passenger seats weren't even bolted to the floor.. i was 7 and my youngest brother was about a month old.. that was in 1982, and i remember the cop waving at us as we drove by..

I'm with Toyman. My kids were in my race cars at racing speeds as young as 7 years old. As a kid , I rode around in the back of pickups,stood on the drive train hump in the back seat, or slept in the back of the station wagon on long trips. I'm not advocating going back to that kind of behaviour, but I agree that life is too short to worry about all that might happen. I also refuse to start my car until all kids are safely belted in, so I guess that makes me two-faced !

In Toyman's camp as well, the wussification of America has really gotten out of hand. (See the 'don't apply sunscreen' thread for more on this subject.) I also won't go into my utter disdain for airbags and their false sense of security again, some folk on this board take great offense at that.

We can't protect against everything, but there are common sense things that can be done. In my case I always wear a seat belt and insist that the Curmudgeonling buckle up before we roll. I wear a helmet when I ride my motorcycle unlike the Harley and Big Dog fags, er, aficionados.

With our first recently downloaded, and my newfound obsession of being "best daddy evAr," I'm finding out a lot about how our imperial federal and state governments come up with their "standards," especially on stuff like car seats. As far as I can tell, car seat manufacturers give huge piles of money to politicians, politicians make laws that car seats can't be more than (x) years old, as they're "unsafe."

That said, I follow the rules. While stories of my brothers riding around in the luggage tray of dad's vette until they got big enough that he was forced to sell it are entertaining, they could've gone really, really, really bad quickly. Mrs. Poop and I are big proponents of the HTFU philosophy, but there's a fine line between that and neglegence.

I am, however, highly in favor of buckled-in gravel doughnuts, and icy parking lot fun. Air-bags off, of course. I suppose I need a RWD somethingeruther.

My bro and I used to ride around in the hatch of my Mom's 81 Chevette. And we used to stand behind the front seats in my Grandmothers Cadillacs.

I dislike frontal airbags. Properly restained and seated will save your A better than any front airbag. They're there to save your ugly face and save the insurers money in the emergency rooms.

Go with the Miata and don't worry about it. Drive smart--reasonable and prudent. And enjoy!

90% of the time my kids spend in an automobile is in a modern people-mover minivan.

I also let them ride with me in some of the dumber cars I own.

The odds are pretty good that they will be in a (fairly) safe vehicle if they get hit. But we are not going to be paralyzed by fear.