have you seen this new concept car?

Volvo Car Group, Public Affairs, SE-405 31 Gothenburg

Car seats made the headlines last week when Volvo unveiled a new concept. In this new concept car the front passenger seat is a rear-facing infant car seat that swivels and then locks in place facing the rear of the car. To those of us who repeatedly talk about the dangers of car seats being placed in the front seat, seeing this first made me cringe!

The seat is fixed on a platform in Volvo’s XC90 allowing a person sitting in the backseat to look at the child in a rear-facing car seat in the front passenger position. After doing a little more research, this conceptual configuration could be safe in this particular car, as the front air bag would be switched off. It’s still such a strange concept to see it’s hard to wrap my brain around it!

I wouldn’t be looking for this car on new car lots anytime soon – but it certainly is an interesting concept for those who want to see their baby’s face. I’ll be interested to see if this concept becomes reality.

In the meantime, it’s important to remember that it’s really dangerous to put a rear-facing car seat in the front seat of the car. The main reason is that most front air bags can’t be turned off. In the case of an accident, the force of the passenger air bag on that rear-facing car seat can be deadly.