Deactivating front airbags

[Ewemoo]

I have a 4 year old dd and am expecting twins. We have a Vauxhall Vectra and can't really afford to buy a bigger car atm. We are going to try and manage by dd1 sitting in the front on booster seat and the twins in the back (we can't fit 3 car seats in the back) When dh is with us I will sit in the back middle seat. I phoned Vauxhall today to book car in for front passenger airbag to be deactivated and their reply was that you can't do it. Is this Vauxhall covering their backs or is it possible? Also is it ok for a 4 year old to sit in the front with a working airbag if the seat is as far back as possible (bearing in mind that her new sister will be sitting behind)?

[mel2005]

i have just had a key fitted in my galaxy for the airbag so my 4 year old can sit in the seat. i wouldnt let a 4 year old in the seat without it being turned off as it can kill them. one of my friends had to have her airbag de-activated as she is very small and they said it would break the bones in her face if it went off. i had an audi when i had my first baby and audi said would turn it off for £250!!!! then i had a ford c-max and ford wouldnt turn it off in that but the new ford galaxies are designed to offer that as an extra. i know that honda will not deactivate airbags either.
some cars have the option, some dont.

congratulations on the twins by the way, thats why we had to get another car as we have unexpected twins on the way and two young children already.

[sunshineakindat]

this may seem a bit of a silly question but have you checked the manual? we had a renault scenic and when we rang up they said there was a switch on the side that you could use.

[Balamorybaby]

I had a Vauxhall Zafira and Vauxhall refused to turn off the passenger airbag for me.

The reason given was that it would be dangerous to do so (you couldn't just turn it on again if you had adult passengers travelling in the passenger seat) and would invalidate my insurance in the case of an accident.

I changed my car to a peugeot and that has a key switch on the passenger side to turn on/off the airbag as and when required.

The only other option is if your vauxhall has "front seat occupancy detection" fitted. Vauxhall sell (expensive) microchipped carseats which would turn off the airbag when fitted in the passenger seat of vehicles with that detection fitted. Perhaps you could check your manual or ask your local dealer to have a look for you.

Good Luck

[SuzyFelts]

Hi Ewemoo

We had the exact same issue - a 4 yr old DD and newborn twins.. unfortunately did have to change the car.. our previous 4x4 like your car didnt fit 3 seats in the back. We swopped ours for a volvo XC90 - you can fit an isofix seat either side and the middle seat converts easily into a inbuilt fully approved booster seat for the older child. It also has an enormous boot for the double buggy!!Wouldnt be without it now.
Alternatively a few years ago we had a 2nd car that was a 2 seater - to give us the option of using it if had to we bought an device that deactivated the airbag. Wasnt expensive..v sorry cant remember what it was called but they are available if you internet search it or visit one of the saddo sites like www.pistonheads.co.uk

[Nellstar]

Hi Ewemoo, we are in a similar position. We have a son who's nearly 2 and we are expecting twins end Jan. We have a Saab 95 which we bought second hand (only had one previous owner) a year ago. We asked about deactivating the air bag and they said you can't. It's an incredibly safe car and we can't afford, nor want, to change for a people carrier. I feel frightened they are too tinny. Saab thought it was absurd that people went for the best car seats but not the safest car and we were better squeezing in 3 car seats in the back (which just fit) as the car itself is so safe (5 star safety rating as opposed to a lot of people carriers which only get 3 stars). Mothercare made us feel awful and implied we didn't love our children by trying out seats to achieve this which just made me cry for hours. I felt so angry and upset. We are still unsure what to do. Not very helpful I know, but thought I would share the dilemma..