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Well, okay, I got an opinion. Let me precede it by saying that I grew up at a time when a seat belt meant that when your mother slammed on the brakes, she belted you across the chest with her right arm to press you back in the seat. And, even after seatbelts became common, I didn’t use them until about 1980. So, I know you can survive in that kind of world and not get hurt, and my motorcycles still don’t have seat belts.
But, that being said, I used to be an owner/operator of over-the-trucks and, from that vantage point, it always sent shivers up my spine to see the little faces pressed up in the back glass of a station wagon.
Yeah, Volvo might have put some thought into the third seat safety, but I’m sure it was a compromise between utility and safety. Yeah, there may be hooks to catch the rear of the car onto the brake calipers, but what were the common bumper heights when that Volvo was designed. I would guess that the brake hook feature is pretty well worthless if the front bumper of the vehicle that rear ends you doesn’t hit squarely on your rear bumper.
It always makes me mad when I drive into a parking lot in my 4000-pound big-body Benz, and notice that the front bumper of some SUV or 3/4ton pick up truck is at my shoulder height. Find some of them in a parking lot and back your Volvo up to their front bumpers and see what you think.
So, to summarize, I think the third seat in any station wagon is perfectly safe as long as you don’t get rear-ended. If you did get rear ended, the kids would probably be safer if you had given them goggles and strapped them onto the roof rack. Of course if you do that, don’t have any roll over accidents.
Charley
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