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Child Seats, Airbags, and ISOFIX » Jobs http://www.spicenmore.com Child Seats, Airbags, and ISOFIX Thu, 21 May 2009 09:54:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8 en hourly 1 Child Seats, Airbags, and ISOFIX http://www.spicenmore.com/child-seats-airbags-and-isofix/ http://www.spicenmore.com/child-seats-airbags-and-isofix/#comments Thu, 21 May 2009 09:52:30 +0000 admin http://www.spicenmore.com/?p=3  

Autor:  Graham Nichols

The new law on carrying children under 135cm and aged under 12 in vehicles, which came into effect on 18th September 2006, has led to an increase in drivers' thinking about both deactivating front passenger airbags and fitting ISOFIX child seat mountings. Drivers must consider these issues when ordering new vehicles, as airbag deactivation can have serious safety implications that should be considered for inclusion in your driver policy guidelines.

 

Deactivating airbags

 

Children must NEVER be carried in rear-facing baby seats in the front seat of a vehicle fitted with an active passenger airbag (see also advice on page 2 about airbags and forward-facing children in front seats). Because of this, many cars are fitted as standard with a switch to deactivate the passenger airbag so a baby seat can be carried. On some vehicles, deactivation switches are an added-cost option, which may be cheaper to order with a new vehicle than to have retrofitted by a dealer later on at a cost of £50 to £100. Deactivation of airbags has clear policy implications for fleet drivers from a safety perspective. Experience shows that many drivers switch off the airbag when the baby arrives and only reactivate it (if they remember) when the child is old enough for a forwardfacing seat. This puts front-seat passengers at increased risk of serious injury in a collision and might lead to an insurer refusing to cover a claim for damages.

 

Drivers need to be reminded that, if their car has a deactivation switch, the airbag should be deactivated only while a baby is being carried in the front seat and then reactivated before an older child or adult is carried. Of course, this applies to private cars used on business as well as to company vehicles.

 

If an airbag switch is not available, it may only be possible to have the airbag deactivated by a main dealer. Doing so may affect the vehicle's warranty and the driver's insurance, so drivers should look for an alternative wherever possible. Most manufacturers recommend replacing unused airbags after 10 years. This should be taken into consideration when setting policy rules for privately owed vehicles used on company business.

 

ISOFIX mountings

 

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