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Original poster

Reception child on school trip in front seat of parents car with airbag

117 replies

aintnomountainhighenough · 04/07/2008 22:33

I would like other mumsnetters thoughts on a situation that has happened today that I am very upset about. My DD has been on a school outing. I offered to drive but was told there were enough parents driving to take the children to and from the venue. My DD told me tonight that she was in a car with 2 other children and was sat in the front seat. Alarm bells started ringing, I never let my children sit in the front. I popped around to see the parent who she came home with and have found that she was put in the front seat of a car with an airbag, she was 'chosen' because she was the tallest. The TA who put the child in the front of the car took the child of the mum who was driving my DD in the back of her car. To say I am upset is an understatement. Of course I will raise this on Monday but what am I over reacting. Opinions please.

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gigglewitch · 05/07/2008 00:28

thanks for this thread. good discussion going on too, and lots of spot-on info. you have reassured me - and although my 7yo sometimes goes in my car front seat (on highback booster) with airbag switched off, I would never transport anyone else's child in the front of a car. Am thinking this stuff should be higher profile, here and anywhere else to do with parenting - it very rarely crops up in parenting mags imo . Thanks from me to all contributors, such sane and sensible discussion

floaty · 05/07/2008 08:28

You need to be aware that the airbags in the US come out much faster than the UK ones as they assume the passenger will not be wearing a seatbelt,so actually it isn't quite as unsafe here as some of the info on the net suggests ,that said my7 year old always goes in the back and I would never carry someone elses child in the front

MaryAnnSingleton · 05/07/2008 08:30

so, would it be ok for my 11 yr old to sit in front, not on booster seat with airbag left on ?

worley · 05/07/2008 08:38

i used to let my ds1 (9) sit in the front on his booster seat but then having seen a boy the same age be brought into a&e with severe face injuries after his parent crashed the car into a wall and the airbag did more damage to his face that anything else. the force damaged his eyes and he is now blind.
he looked as if he had taken a beating off someone.
i will never allow either ds to sit in the front with an airbag, we just cant turn ours off

MaryAnnSingleton · 05/07/2008 08:48

mmm, my ds is quite small for 11 so might be dangerous - he rarely sits in the front but I think if he does I'll turn it off.

LadyMuck · 05/07/2008 16:12

Is it normal for infant school age children to go on school trips and be driven there by parents? I guess that the other parents would have to consent, but do the school go around checking driving licenses and insurnace etc? The dcs school to date has never asked parents to drive children on school trips, and personally I wouldn't expect them to.

Bridie3 · 05/07/2008 16:16

Is this a wind-up?

3littlefrogs · 05/07/2008 16:18

I thought blinding and facial injuries caused by airbags were a well known risk to children. I am surprised that doesn't seem to be the case on here.

peanutbutterkid · 05/07/2008 16:23

I wonder so, too, Bridie3. Our school would never let any children go in parents' cars on an outing (not even child's own parent). Would hire a bus, instead. Were all helpers CRB checked?

Dottoressa · 05/07/2008 16:36

An interesting topic!

I won't let the dcs go in the front of our car on booster seats (the airbag won't switch off), but DH would let them if I gave him half a chance. The only times I've had DS in the front (as he's the older one) are when I've had an extra child in the car with us - we can't fit three boosters on the back seat. But I was not happy with it, and there is no way I'd have anyone else's child in the front of a car without obtaining their permission first - and particularly not a car with an airbag.

I would definitely have a word with the school before any future trips, and make it clear to them that you do not want your child to sit in the front.

LadyMuck · 05/07/2008 17:02

It is not the airbag that would worry me tbh. I would want to know that anyone driving my dcs were experienced drivers and had a clean licence.

Dottoressa · 05/07/2008 17:06

LadyMuck - that, too!

I let my dcs in a car with someone other than DH, me or my parents for the very first time this week. DS is six!! I have been in the car with the friend in question (a nanny, as it happens) enough times to trust that if she has an accident, it is unlikely to be her fault. It didn't stop me worrying, though!!

Blondilocks · 05/07/2008 17:09

I thought it was to do with the risk of suffocating a smaller child or causing a rear-facing child seat to move or tip up.

A lot of cars do have things which allow the airbags to be switched off. They suggest having the seat as far back as it can go. I though 14 or a similar height was a guide for front seat passengers? (Although that may have been in a hire car in Europe).

Personally I prefer DD to be in the back. Several friends have their DDs in the front pretty much all the time.

It seems strange that the woman's child didn't go with her rather than in the other car.

chopchopbusybusy · 05/07/2008 17:17

I think you are right to be a bit upset by this. The fact that they rearranged the seating so that your DD (the tallest) was chosen to sit in the front seat does indicate that they were aware of the dangers of airbags for children. I am really surprised that so many posters are unaware.

3littlefrogs · 05/07/2008 17:18

I have seen parents at dd's school driving along with unrestrained children hanging out of the windows, while they natter on their mobile phones. I would be very unhappy about any of those parents being asked to help with transporting children!

stitch · 05/07/2008 17:20

the airbag is a safety feature. it is designed to protect the passenger in the front seat. if a reception age child is seated n the front in a suitable car seat, then it is all perfectly appropriate, and the op is over reacting big time.

stitch · 05/07/2008 17:22

the fact that they rearranged the seating so the tallest was in the front is extremely responsible behaviour. the op is exhibiting extreme pfb tendencies in moaning about this

cocolepew · 05/07/2008 17:30

I've never let my DD sit in the front, either on a booster or not. She is small for her age and a couple of years ago I read about a 7 yr old, admittedly in the U.S. being decapitated by an airbag, after a very slight shunt in a carpark.

tissy · 05/07/2008 17:32

stitch, the airbag is designed to protect a 75kg adult, not a 5 yr old, no matter how tall.

tissy · 05/07/2008 17:33

The safest place in a car for a child to sit is behind the driver. Obviously, if you have several kids in the car, one of them has to sit in the least safe place, but the op offered her services and was turned down.

YANBU

buickmackane · 05/07/2008 17:34

She's not over reacting at all. Actually I have driven someone else's child for a school trip and they didn't check my license or insurance. I put him in the back, of course!

stitch · 05/07/2008 17:35

personally i hope never to run into the op, or her pfb
i have enough to deal with in life without such time wasters

tissy · 05/07/2008 17:37

lokk at this

tissy · 05/07/2008 17:38

having a bad day, stitch?

stitch · 05/07/2008 17:39

tissy, i have also read about a great many 11 year olds being acosted, even killed whils tout on their own. that doesnt mean that i will keep dc tied to my apron strings forever.
if the op is going to be so precious, then she shouldnt have allowed her dc in a motorised vehicle in the first place.
there is risk associated with everything in life. what we do everyday is take calculated risks. what risks are acceptable depend on different peoples pov. the op view is rather extreme. she is welcome to her pov, but should not force other people to adhere to it.