Volvo Car Seat Concept Could Cut Distracted Driving by Parents

CARS.COM — It’s a mantra safety experts repeat day in and day out: Children belong in a car seat in the backseat. Earlier this year, Volvo debuted its Excellence Child Seat Concept that replaces the front passenger seat in an XC90 with a motorized rear-facing infant seat. After checking out this concept in person at the 2015 Los Angeles Auto Show, it’s clear there are some benefits to Volvo’s controversial idea.

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The Excellence Child Seat Concept is a variation of the XC90 Excellence Lounge Console Concept that premiered at the Shanghai auto show. The Excellence Child Seat Concept features a mobile console that replaces the front passenger seat with a motorized rear-facing infant seat. The seat can swivel to make it easier for parents to load baby into the car, and it can slide back and forth as well. There is a storage bin in the console under the seat for extra diapers, wipes and other baby gear, space for a diaper bag behind the seat under the dash and heated cupholders to keep a baby bottle warm, providing the ultimate in luxury for families.

Luxury is right; the 2016 Volvo XC90 on which the Excellence Child Seat Concept is based starts at $50,795, including a destination fee, and such customized features would likely result in a dramatically higher price. Though it’s a price some parents would pay to have their child close by.

As a parent, this concept appeals to me because it could reduce distracted driving. When your unhappy newborn screams at every red light, the backseat seems miles away. Many parents find themselves with their eyes glued to the rearview mirror to make sure that tiny beet-red face is OK, despite the wailing. Alternatively, some parents perfect pretzel-like body contortions to reach behind and attend to the baby while continuing to motor ahead.

“Being able to maintain eye contact with your child from the rear seat, or being able to keep a bottle warm in the heated cup holders in the XC90 Excellence, would go a long way towards making life easier for parents,” said Tisha Johnson, chief designer interiors at Volvo Cars Concept and Monitoring Centre, in a press release. “We have always placed a great deal of importance on child safety, but this takes things to the next level.”

In the concept, the front airbags would be turned off with the child-seat console installed, said Lotta Jakobsson, child safety specialist at Volvo. Theoretically, once the baby graduated from the rear-facing infant seat, the owner would then take the vehicle to the dealer to have the console removed and the front passenger seat safely installed.

The Excellence Child Seat Concept is an idea that Volvo is exploring; parents should never put a child in a car’s front seat. Infants and little ones up to at least age 2 should ride in a rear-facing car seat in the backseat. Once the child has reached the height or weight limit of that car seat, he or she can sit in a forward-facing convertible or combination seat in the backseat. And again, once the child has reached the height or weight limit of his or her forward-facing car seat (and is at least 4 years old), he or she can be moved to a booster seat.

Children should ride in booster seats until they’re 4 feet 9 inches tall (usually around 8 to 12 years old). It’s only then that they can sit — still in the backseat — wearing just a seat belt. When your child is 13 years old, he or she can finally ride in the front passenger seat, and then in a few short years he or she will be driving, but that’s another story.