Car seats on a gaucho?

[mtnmike]

Anyone know the legality and more so the safety of installing a child seat sideways on a gaucho bench seat?
I like the walk-thru floor plan but don't know how safe it would be for the kids.
Thanks, Mike

 

[Herbie]

Anyone know the legality and more so the safety of installing a child seat sideways on a gaucho bench seat?
I like the walk-thru floor plan but don't know how safe it would be for the kids.
Thanks, Mike

Can't speak to legality, but for safety I certainly wouldn't do it for any child that would normally be rear-facing (usually <1 year or <20-something lbs.)

The reason for rear facing is that infant spines and musculature are still weak and a collision where the head is free to move could be fatal. Rear facing is specified since a front impact is most likely, therefore the seat back should provide maximum resistance to the head moving. Mounting a child sideways would leave the child vulnerable to dangerous forces in both a front and rear collision.

For older children who are at the forward facing or booster stage it might not be so important, but I couldn't say for sure.

That said, as I kid I spent a lot of time riding sideways in the back of our RV, and it sucked. I always fought with my siblings over who got to ride up front and who had to sit sideways. IMHO, gauchos or other bench arrangements are good for short trips only. The parallel side-benches in the Sprinters that the local transit authority uses to get people from the train station to local business parks, for example, make a ton of sense. Would I like to go on another long trip where I had to ride sideways? Hell no.

I've got a 6-month old right now and I'm kicking off a Van build of my own. I don't know if we have any more kiddies in store, but one thing I do know for sure is that my van will have the classic westfalia layout...

 

[Root Moose]

I wouldn't subject an adult to a side facing seat in a "normal" vehicle for any appreciable driving let alone a child in a car seat.

 

[Brian McVickers]

I would not recommend it.
Consider the forward and back sway from starting and stopping. The kid will be bashed back and forth in the child seat if oriented sideways. In addition the forward facing child seats are usually reclined a bit to keep the childs mass in one place and well seated. Sitting sideways would only allow the design of the child seat to work when you are turning in one direction.

It would not be terrible but I would not want to do it for a long term installation, long trips or rough conditions if there were other alternatives.