Rear-facing car seats and WHIPS

[Tweetinat]

Wondering whether anyone can assist as I'm getting nowhere with the Volvo Dealership...

Recently bought an XC60 and during sale process explained to dealer we had a rear-facing car seat (for 9m - 4yrs) and wanted to be sure it would fit etc. Assured no problems, but when we actually got delivery of the car and were reading the manual, we realised that WHIPS might interfere with the safety of the rear-facing seats. Have been back to dealership but they have 'helpfully' told us that they only endorse official Volvo car seats and even if you have an identical 'Britax' seat, they won't give you any support/assistance.

So,

Basically, the car seat (Britax Two-Way Elite) we have is designed to brace against the back of the front passenger seat and is secured in place with strops attached to the underside of the front passenger seat. We're concerned that, should WHIPS activate in the event of a collission, that the front seat is moved backwards and downwards which is going to obviously impact the car seat.

Seeing as Britax is a Swedish brand as well, and the 'bracing' design is standard in Sweden we would hope that it's not a problem, but we don't want to chance it. Has anyone else come across this issue and have you managed to get a formal statement from Volvo saying its safe?

We're naturally reluctant to buy a new car seat, especially a 'Volvo' branded one with ~£100 extra on top for the privilege.

TIA

[Marty Dolomite]

Have you tried asking Britax, they have a UK based product help line?
01264 386034

Or Email
service.uk@britax.com

Help that is of some help.

[Clan]

you cant expect volvo to give out advice for a seat that isnt theirs , But remember their own child seats are crash tested in their volvo cars ...

The backrest only moves a few inches to absorb the decelleration and the childs seat will be on the rebound going backwards away from the oncoming backrest too so hopefully all the child will feel is a bit of a rough ride .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P99FKHOULvI

[ian77]

We have the Volvo one in our V60 (and gen 3 V70 before) which braces back to the floor with a prop and anchors to the eyes at the rear of the front seat runners. If I recall, the instructions say to make sure it's not tight to the seat in front to allow the WHIPS to operate. No minimum stated I don't think though.

[Tweetinat]

Originally Posted by Marty Dolomite

Have you tried asking Britax, they have a UK based product help line?
01264 386034

Or Email
service.uk@britax.com

Help that is of some help.

Thanks Marty - should have specified in the OP that I've been in touch with Britax and are currently waiting for a reply. It's been 9+days though so starting to get a bit desperate!

Originally Posted by Clan

you cant expect volvo to give out advice for a seat that isnt theirs , But remember their own child seats are crash tested in their volvo cars ...

The backrest only moves a few inches to absorb the decelleration and the childs seat will be on the rebound going backwards away from the oncoming backrest too so hopefully all the child will feel is a bit of a rough ride .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P99FKHOULvI

Thanks for the vid link - explains how it works a lot better although I don't know if I'm more or less reassured!

I don't expect Volvo to give advice on a seat that isn't theirs, but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect them to have an official statement re: rear-facing seat usage in cars with a safety feature designed by them. Rear facing with a bracing system such as this is standard in non-isofix designs - especially in Sweden - so I would be very surprised that they did not consider this before now. The problem is finding the right person/dept to give the answer. I would bet any money that a dealership in Sweden wouldn't have to think twice to know what the position is as it will be a commonplace issue. In the UK, extended rear-facing seats are not well known and the amount of resistance I had from the dealership in the first place insisting that I must be fitting the car sear wrong was (and is) frustrating.

In fact, one of the previous incarnations of the rear-facing seat sold by Volvo USED to have the same fitting system as the one I have now (and Volvo seats are also made by Britax) so again, I'm perplexed why no one can give me a definitive answer.

Originally Posted by ian77

We have the Volvo one in our V60 (and gen 3 V70 before) which braces back to the floor with a prop and anchors to the eyes at the rear of the front seat runners. If I recall, the instructions say to make sure it's not tight to the seat in front to allow the WHIPS to operate. No minimum stated I don't think though.

Thanks Ian, yes, the newer Volvo seats use a prop onto the floor but unfortunately the model we have doesn't. I don't mind shelling out more money for a seat if WHIPS is definitely a safety issue (and is the reason why Volvo themselves started to use car seats with foot props) but I'm reluctant to do so if it's just because no one (at Volvo) can be arsed to look into it to give me an answer.

[Clan]

volvo have been using the prop for the last 20 years so it is nothing new , so well tested in real crashes and in their crash centre .

Volvo say that all seat positions in a volvo are equally safe

this may be some help to re-assure you .

http://www.volvocars.com/uk/top/my_v...pages/faq.aspx

[JimG]

Prior to buying our rear facing seats I emailed this company a lot for help and advice, bought the seat from them too.

http://www.carseat.se/contact-us/

Also, the in-car safety centre in Essex deal with rear facing car seats and maybe able to offer some advice.

Good luck.