Range of vision - short and tall drivers

[RicodJour]

t, while maybe an >*excuse*

Unfortunately, modifying the seat as you describe is dangerous due to the airbag deployment restrictions.

R

[dpb]

RicodJour wrote: ...

Anyone that small probably shouldn't have the airbag activated. That's marginal on the recommendations for sizes of youngsters in front seats for that reason.

[h]

Umm, if you had actually read my post, you'd realize that all the cars my mother had previous to her current vehicle were BENCH seats, so OBVIOUSLY they were made long before airbags were even thought of. Hell, her last car was the first one she ever had new enough to have seat belts. The car she has now has automatic seat adjustments, and, by the way, no airbag (it's a

1992).

[RicodJour]

I did read your post and found it a bit misleading. You said, "Agreed, but it's an easy fix." I was merely pointing out that it's not so easy, nor safe, of a fix with airbags.

BTW, your newsreader is doing something funny with the stuff you're quoting. My comment was the most recent one, and should have a single

R

[RicodJour]

We're talking about the driver, right? I know you can turn off the airbag for the passenger seat, but I didn't know you could turn off the driver's side airbag. Is this something new? Seems to me that it defeats the whole purpose of the thing.

R

[h]

Very short people and asthmatics should deactivate airbags. Everyone knows this, don't they?

[RicodJour]

Not being in either camp, I did not know this. I've seen the passenger seat airbag deactivation switch, but never a driver's. I ran across this:

It seems that to deactivate a driver air bag a form is supposed to be filled out so a dealer or repair shop can install the switch. It has to be installed at the customer's request, it seems.

In any event, my point was that modifying a car to suit a small driver is not always possible, and rarely easily done, if there is also a tall driver. And a person operates best in a vehicle they feel comfortable in and have confidence in. This may mean having two vehicles. Hell, Hoover promised us that, right?

R

[Ed P]

Huh? Bench seats have been in airbag equipped cars for years. I've owned a couple of them.

[Harry K]

No airbag? 1992? I didn't know any car was produced without them back then...unless in a third world country perhaps.

Harry K

[h]

My 1993 Subaru didn't have one either, and I live in NY.

[Cindy Hamilton]

If I recall correctly (and someone is sure to correct me if my memory is faulty), in 1993 some cars didn't have airbags (and consequently had those annoying automatic shoulder belts). I bought a Prizm because it had airbags and,thus, manual shoulder belts.

Cindy Hamilton

[h]

I ADORED my automatic shoulder belt. I miss it desperately. I hate the manual one. It binds up 8 out of 10 times so it takes forever to get the thing buckled. I'm told I should just pull the thing out more slowly, but I do everything very quickly and the car should be able to keep up. The auto belt was auto advancing without binding up while I was able to quickly buckle my lap belt, start the car, and get out of the garage.

[Doug Brown]

In case you haven't heard, live is not a sprint, it's a marathon. :).

[Harry K]

You are correct. I checked in another group. 1994 is the year airbags became mandatory.

Harry K