xtra cab car seat/bucket seat ?'s

Our only vehicle at the time our daughter was born was the Tacoma. A leading national child safety seat expert (this guy travels the country to do safety seminars) installed our car seat for us.... in the front seat of the Tacoma.

Obviously it's ideal if you could fit them in the back, but with the airbag off, the front seat is fine.

What if you have a collision where your Tacoma's cab gets t-boned on the passenger side? Your child is not miles safer in the back seat than you're making it out to be.

 

I assumed that was what that was for... What kind of good would a cupholder do back there anyway? I guess they cut the holes so you could try to put cups in it but I figured it was just a car seat brace.

 

I re-installed the car seat today with the "cup holder mod" (lol) and it works great! The seat is a bit more secure than it was before. My only complaint is now it sits a little too low to be able to use the top anchor point, so it is only secured with the two lower points. I pulled on it at the top and it seems solid even without the top anchor, so we'll see. It does make me a bit nervous though.

 

You're right they are not much safer in the case of a T-bone. But at least they are safer should there be a front end collision. Dont tell me put them in the front seat because a t-bone accident negates front end safety. If the front seat is all that works, then so be it. You gotta do, what you gotta do. But try asking that safety expert how comfortable he feels with the seat in the front. Majority of them would rather find other options. Unfortunately for the ext cab Tacoma's, the front is all you got for rear-facing infant seats.