Law on sitting in front seat of car?

[cupofteaplease]

Is there a law that prevents children from sitting in the front of a car?

My dd is 3 and I told dh it was against the law to put her car seat in the front, simply because I feel it is safer in the back! I knew if I told him there was a law against it, he would listen to me. However, to my embarrasment, he has just told a friend about this 'law'

Please tell me there is some law forbidding this or I am going to look like a real numpty!

Nope it is legal, as long as seat is forward facing if there is an airbag, but not recommended safety wise.

it is not recommended with a front airbag but not against law - my dd age 6 sometimes sits up front and i push her seat as far back as it goes so the airbag wouldnt hit her full pelt if it activated.

I'm going to have to 'fess up!

Thanks for the answers though.

and I thought that children could sit (forward facing) as long as the airbag was turned off. If you have an airbag that cannot be turned off, if the child needs a car seat then he or she should sit in the back.

Don't think the car seat even has to be front facing? Air bags are especially dangerous with rear facing seats though.

With no fornt passenger airbag there is no legal restriction, with one you can 't use a rearward facing seat. Specifics here

in the front seat a child HAS to be in an appropriate child seat, and if rear facing there must not be an active air bag.

i think thats all the law says.

if there is no active airbag, then there is no reason why a child in a childseat cant sit in the front (though statistically safer in the back ultimatley it depends on what the crash is, so you dont know until you have an accident)

An airbag can kill a child under 12, so IMO no child under 12 should be allowed to sit on the front with an active airbag...
it maybe legal but could kill them, so why take the risk?