Installing a carseat in a pickup truck
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Installing a carseat in a pickup truck
April 2004
Our daughter is 16 months old, twentyish pounds and rides in a Britax
Roundabout when she's in our car. My question is, can I put that Britax
in my truck? It sure would be nice to have that flexibility. I have a 1994
Toyota pickup with an extra cab and no air bags. Can I put the carseat in
the extra cab? Or can I put it in the front seat? Should it face forward or
back? Or is putting a car seat in a pickup the ultimate no-no?
zac
There are people in the county trained as car seat technicians
who stay current on the complicated, changing issues around car
seats. Try Barbara Cheatham in Alameda County at 618-2048, and
also ask her about upcoming car seat check-ups scheduled in May
at which someone can examine your installation and seat itself.
happy travels.
lyn
Yes, you can put the Roundabout in your Toyota pickup. You
cannot, however, put it in the cab, or at least that was our
experience. My partner has the same truck. We have the
Roundabout in the front seat because the truck has no passenger-
side airbag. The Berkeley Police Department checked it out and
said it was fine. The seat is rear-facing until the child is
one year old AND 20 pounds, so I think your seat can be forward-
facing. When we use my partner's truck, I ride in the cab and
our baby is in the carseat. Not very comfortable. But my
partner picks our baby up from day care every day and she loves
being in the front seat where she can look at her mommy. If you
have any doubts about your seat installation, please make an
appointment with the Berkeley PD -- they are very helpful.
Noel
Sure, we'd all like to transport our kids in the center back
seat of a Volvo, but that just isn't practical or affordable
for many of us. I'm a single mom with a 1988 Ford Ranger
(regular cab) and my kid has been in front with me from infant
seat onward (i.e., 5 years). I had both the infant seat
(backward) and the later Roundabout (forward) checked by police
or CHP specialists at those free car seat things they do and
both times was assured that a PROPERLY INSTALLED carseat in the
passenger seat of an airbagless truck was fine (remember that
those checks find up to 60 or 70 percent of parent
installations are faulty!). The CHP officer actually said that
my kid was probably safer in the front of my pickup in a head-
on collision than a kid in the back of compact car--just think
of that big engine between you and your front bumper. HOWEVER,
since then I have read that EXTENDED CAB seats (I don't have
them) are NOT safe for kids--whether in car seats or not I'm
not sure--so that aspect bears more checking out before you put
your precious cargo back there.
Safe Truck Drivin' Mama
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