Asked to drive DC in my Smart Car

[Anonymous]

It is not illegal to put a FF seat in the front seat. Most new cars you can turn off the airbag or it has a sensor which turns it off when the person sitting there is below a certain weight.
I would not put a child in the front seat because I think it is dangerous, end of discussion. I would also not drive a car with a child in the back in a lap belt only ( middle) because I think it is dangerous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How did millions of us survive riding in the front seat, without seat belts or car seats?

Hundreds of thousands of "us" died in now survival car crashes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It is not illegal to put a FF seat in the front seat. Most new cars you can turn off the airbag or it has a sensor which turns it off when the person sitting there is below a certain weight.
I would not put a child in the front seat because I think it is dangerous, end of discussion. I would also not drive a car with a child in the back in a lap belt only ( middle) because I think it is dangerous.

Its not exactly dangerous. In Sweden and other countries, they do it as they feel it is safer, especially when they need to attend to baby. The main issue is the airbag. Their cars and car seats are designed differently to make it all work together better.

You can use a lap belt with some car seats so there are ways around that concern. It is also a concern for not having a head rest as many, like mine do not have a headrest in the middle. But, neither of these are what OP asked or commented on. She is not comfortable driving a young child around in a small two seater car that she did not purchase for work purposes. She has ever right to say no.

[Anonymous]

CPST here-

First- never trust the sensors in the front seat to turn off an airbag. They are not reliable.

Second- If no other option, you can put a forward facing child in a harnessed seat (not a booster) in the front seat even with an airbag. If you have more than one child you put the oldest child still in a harnessed seat with the seat moved as far back as possible.

Third- Never put a rear facing child in a front seat with an airbag unless it can be turned off with a key. (again the sensors are not safe)

Fourth- You can install almost any car seat with a lap belt.

Fifth- You do not need a head rest for a harnessed seat, this is only an issue for children in boosters.

[Anonymous]

I have always refused to use my personal car for work. When I drove my tin can around and during interviews when parents asked about it, I just said no, because it isn't a safe car for children. End of discussion with them. And when I got my new car, I still said no. I did not want my car trashed by little ones.
I think that MB sees the car, she sees how much easier it would be for OP to use her car. If OP wants the little one driven around, then MB needs to buy another car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:CPST here-

First- never trust the sensors in the front seat to turn off an airbag. They are not reliable.

Second- If no other option, you can put a forward facing child in a harnessed seat (not a booster) in the front seat even with an airbag. If you have more than one child you put the oldest child still in a harnessed seat with the seat moved as far back as possible.

Third- Never put a rear facing child in a front seat with an airbag unless it can be turned off with a key. (again the sensors are not safe)

Fourth- You can install almost any car seat with a lap belt.

Fifth- You do not need a head rest for a harnessed seat, this is only an issue for children in boosters.

OP here. I am happy to know that in a bind I could transport DC safely. I think my criteria would be an emergency. I understand your post to mean it is feasible to seat a child in the front seat with relative safety but that is relative to using no car seat at all or an improper seat and not the it is equally safe compared to seating child passengers in a rear seat.

As another PP noted I will bear the liability if anything happens. I don't want to stand in front of a judge arguing that I know better than the overwhelming amount of expert opinion saying small children should ride in the back seat. An ounce of prevention...