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      10-29-2012, 11:52 AM   #1
thl70
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Convertible safety

I am about to order a 128i vert and was just wondering about safety for the rear seats occupants. From what I understand, there are no curtain airbags for the backseats in the convertible but I do have a 9 years old child that will be back there everyday mostly for short city trips. At what age or weight would it be better off for her to sit in the front seats? Thank you for any insights.
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      10-29-2012, 12:00 PM   #2
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I'm not sure where you'd put curtain airbags in a ragtop...
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      10-29-2012, 12:04 PM   #3
thl70
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Me nether but are there any other enhance protection from side impact?
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      10-29-2012, 03:13 PM   #4
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There were two metal bars behind the rear seats and should pop up in the event car is turn over, that should be safe enough to protect the rear passengers.
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      10-29-2012, 03:47 PM   #5
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Maybe these videos will help... ?






coupe crash testing...
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      10-29-2012, 05:26 PM   #6
thl70
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Thank you for the video! Still looking for the weight and height requirement for the front seats as they look a lot safer. I've been trying to do that search on the web and is still coming up empty. You would think those numbers would be easier to come by. I also went by Insurance Institute for Highway Safety site and was surprise the 1 series is not on there.
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      10-30-2012, 10:11 AM   #7
J0E
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A quick google search brings up the CDC recommendations:

http://www.cdc.gov/Features/PassengerSafety/

Quote:
After Age 8 AND/OR 4'9" Tall – Seat belts. Children should use booster seats until adult seat belts fit them properly. Seat belts fit properly when the lap belt lays across the upper thighs (not the stomach) and the shoulder belt fits across the chest (not the neck). When adult seat belts fit children properly they can use the adult seat belts without booster seats. For the best possible protection keep children in the back seat and use lap-and-shoulder belts.

Remember: All children younger than 13 years should ride in the back seat. Never place a child in the front seat facing an airbag.
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      10-30-2012, 12:11 PM   #8
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Over here in Germany... any child under the age of 12 years old or 36 Kilograms must ride in the back seat. Here is a Google translated German site on the law and the different versions of child seats.

http://translate.google.com/translat...o.html&act=url


Also interesting is on ECE (German spec) BMW's you can turn off the air bag for the front passenger seat.


And yes... IF safety is your concern... a closed car offers better protection than an open(cabrio) car does. Even when its top is up. A closed car is just plain safer.

Dackel
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      10-30-2012, 08:02 PM   #9
thl70
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Thank you to everyone who help with the info! I did some more digging on my own and it look like in California a child under 12 must be in the back seat regardless of height or weight, which seems a bit too simplistic. If you can turn off the front air bag, there is no reason why the front seat on a small convertible like the 1xx will not be safer given the side and head airbags for any one over 5ft tall. Case in point, my mother is just under 5ft tall and around 100lbs, while my 9 yrs old girl is almost her height thought quite a bit lighter. You would think they would be in the same category.
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      10-31-2012, 03:27 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thl70 View Post
You would think they would be in the same category.
Ahhh...but the Republik of Kalifornia knows better than you! You should be very familiar with the agenda especially living in SF!
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      10-31-2012, 03:38 PM   #11
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Great safety video ! Sticky.
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      11-01-2012, 08:08 AM   #12
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With respect to side crashes, the space beside the rear seat occumpants is where the top mechanism folds into. It takes up this space at the side and the upper couple inches of the trunk space. In a way that provides additional crush space on the sides but I wouldn't want the steel bars that support the top coming at me either. If the top is up, however, then there is a couple inches empty space between the outside of the car and the closest rear seat occupant.

I also consider BMWs better engineered than most cars regardless of whether that always shows up on crash test data results. I think it's important to remember that the crash tests are for a very specific set of conditions most of us will never experience. Some car manufacturers design for these tests which may help somewhat in real life but I'd rather they just make the car stout and have crumple zones.

I'm glad my kids got past this point before the government decided they need to tell us how to parent our kids. My son was well over 5 feet tall at 12.

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