Hi,
Question concerning child seats. What is the best way to fit a third
child seat in a Subaru Forester (if both front seats are already by
adults)?
Is there a special kind of child seat for in the back of the car?
Thanks in advance for your answer!
Arend
''LATCH Child Seat System: (Lower Anchors and Tether for CHildren):
consists of lower child seat anchors at the base of the rear seats and
a tether attachment in the rear. This allows a child seat to be firmly
and securely anchored at the base and top to minimize movement.
Requires a newer seat (2002?) with the appropriate attaching straps.
Check your child seat for specifics.
The tether holds the child seat upright and prevents it from tipping
forward. The headrest in the photo could be removed
Required on all vehicles and child safety seats manufactured on or
after September 1, 2002.
Cars, minivans, and light trucks will be required to have anchor
points between the vehicle's seat cushion and the seat back in at
least two rear seating positions, and a top tether anchor (with the
exception of convertibles). Child safety seats will have a lower set
of attachments that fasten to the vehicle anchors. Most
forward-facing child afety seats will also have a top strap (tether)
that attaches to the top anchor in the vehicle. Together they make up
the LATCH system.
Why? LATCH bars avoid seat belt incompatibility from different
types of seat belt retractors, different belt anchor locations (too
far forward), plus differing vehicle belt routings that people found
confusing.
Where are the anchors: The anchor bars are in the crease of the
rear seats. By law, the vehicle LATCH bar spacing is standardized at
11 inches (280mm) so that both the flexible (webbing) and rigid
(metal) type of LATCH attachments will work in all vehicles.
How many seats? Very few vehicles could fit three LATCH positions
across a back seat. It was decided that at least two are needed in
back seats but vehicle manufacturers can optionally add more if they
fit. In limited cases, it's possible to use the inboard LATCH bars to
put a seat in the center position, but for this to be safe, this
method must be specifically allowed by the child restraint
manufacturer for that model restraint. There are limits as to how wide
and narrow is safe for use by a child seat. Use the vehicle seat
belts in the center rear unless the child restraint model instructions
specifically say the center inboard bars are ok.
Retrofit? Yes, there may be a kit, contact your seat manufacturer
to see if they make a retrofit kit for your child seat. Do not use a
kit from another company, the design of the system and angles of
attachment could be different enough to cause crash loads that would
break the system. Don't mix parts
from different manufacturers no matter how similar they might
look. ''
http://www.cars101.com/subaru/safety.html
