# safe age for riding in a 2 seater convertible



## shanniesue2 (Jul 4, 2007)

My husband drives a miata, and keeps asking me how old DS has to be before I'll let him ride in the miata (DS is only 18 months old). I keep telling DH that DS needs to be older. So then DH asks, "how old?" And I say, well he needs to be able to FF (at the absolute bare minimum and even then I'm not sure about the miata). So then DH asks how long till we FF him. And I say, until he outgrows the RF limits on his seat. What I want to say is that we're going to keep him in the back seat as long as it is recommended. But I'm not entirely sure what that recommendation is. Something in me is saying 12 years old... but I know that if I tell DH that DS can't ride in the miata until he's 12, DH will tell me I'm being unreasonable...

So wwyd?


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## Maedze (Dec 16, 2008)

If you can disable the air bag on the passenger side of the Miata, there's no reason he can't ride in it now. Otherwise, wait until he's forward facing. Good for you for rear facing to the limits of the seat!


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## petra_william (Nov 28, 2007)

bein in a front seat WITH AIRBAG under the age of 12 can result in serious injury or death (from the airbag) in both rearfacing and forward facing children (because they are lower, the airbag wouldnt hit them wehre it needs to iyswim) in the case of an accident. if you can disable the airbag you are theoretically alllowed to have them in teh front seat. however i would still keep kids in the back seat for as long as possible.


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## Maedze (Dec 16, 2008)

For a person who is forward facing, the airbag is only very dangerous if the seatbelt does not fit them correctly (i.e a child or very small woman who is not in a booster), or if the harnessed seat is not installed and tightened correctly.

A harnessed seat will do a better job of holding a small body away from the airbag, so if you have a two seater car, it's better to use the harness as long as possible.


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## evinmom (Jan 17, 2009)

I would only allow my child to ride up front in a car if the airbags are disabled. Even then I'd prefer not. I think it's a great idea to keep them RF for as long as possible!


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## petra_william (Nov 28, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Maedze* 
For a person who is forward facing, the airbag is only very dangerous if the seatbelt does not fit them correctly (i.e a child or very small woman who is not in a booster), or if the harnessed seat is not installed and tightened correctly.

A harnessed seat will do a better job of holding a small body away from the airbag, so if you have a two seater car, it's better to use the harness as long as possible.

doesnt that depend on how close the child is to the airbag? the info i got given was that you hsould move the front passenger seat as far back as possible (away from the airbag) if a child under 12 has to ride in the front seat and it cant be disabled. i agree a five point harness would do a better job, no doubt. but an airbag could still hit a child if the seat was too close (and car seat backs add a good few inches - so the child would be moved towards the airbag iyswim)?


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## Maedze (Dec 16, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *petra_william* 
doesnt that depend on how close the child is to the airbag? the info i got given was that you hsould move the front passenger seat as far back as possible (away from the airbag) if a child under 12 has to ride in the front seat and it cant be disabled. i agree a five point harness would do a better job, no doubt. but an airbag could still hit a child if the seat was too close (and car seat backs add a good few inches - so the child would be moved towards the airbag iyswim)?


Absolutely, move the seat to the furthest back position.

Keep in mind that many parents will make critical errors when installing a child safety seat, so as many 'tricks' as possible reduce the likelihood of injury. A child in a properly installed forward facing child seat with a correctly positioned and tightened harness is not likely to be injured by the air bag.

However, most parents don't use their car seats correctly, and the risk of injury will increase.

Putting ANYONE who doesn't properly fit the seatbelt in the front seat, including children and small adults, radically increases their risk of injury from the air bag.


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## shanniesue2 (Jul 4, 2007)

see, the thing is that driving in convertibles scares me in general. Especially on the highway. I have these images of another car hitting a rock and the rock flying through the air and into the head of the driver. Maybe that's irrational of me, but I've had more than one windshield cracked from that sort of thing. And one time, a truck passed me and the truck had a strap that was not tethered to anything and the very large S hook on the end hit my driver side window. I had just (like 5 seconds earlier) rolled that window up and if I hadn't, it would have hit me in the head. Anyway, I just feel like having a wreck in a convertible with the top down (the only way DH drives unless the weather is bad) would put DS at increased risk of serious injury in the case of an accident. Disabled airbag or no.


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## lerlerler (Mar 31, 2004)

I'm a Miata driver.. well, more of a Miata OWNER right now... because I can't IMAGINE my 5 year old in the car. I'm guessing 12 or 13!~!

that car is SMALL


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## mysticmomma (Feb 8, 2005)

Are we talking a ride around the block? A 100 mile trip?


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## shanniesue2 (Jul 4, 2007)

I don't know exactly what he has in mind. But he likes to go on drives and I think he has these images of taking DS with him. Maybe not now, but when he's old/big enough to FF.


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## ssh (Aug 12, 2007)

My DH has a Toyota MR2 turbo. It's a two seat sports car. It only has airbags on the drivers side. We were thinking DD would be old enough around 10 or 12. She's tall for her age right now, so I'm expecting her to be around 5' by then. When my DH gets home from work our DD rides in the front seat while he drives the car into the garage. She's 3.5 and thinks it's fun. Of course it's only in the driveway and about 10 ft. in distance .


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