Volvo wanted to make travel easier for parents without compromising the safety of the child. They have done this by allowing the chair to be rear facing but in the front passenger position.
Released in Shanghai on July 2, the concept has not hit current marketed vehicles but can be seen in action in this YouTube video.
If the past is anything to go by, Volvo may have just introduced the next item in a long history of revolutionary safety features in motor vehicles. The company was the first to release the three-point safety belt in 1959, the first rear facing child seat in 1972 and side impact protection in 1991.
This latest concept was focused on three benefits. “Making it easier to get the child into and out of the child seat from an ergonomic and comfort perspective; providing the child with a safe rearward facing seating position that enables it to keep eye-contact with either the driver or the rear passenger; and, of course, including enough storage for those vital child accessories, such as nappies, bottles, wipes, and so on,” said Tisha Johnson, one of Volvo’s chief interior designers.
As pictures show, the car seat concept completely changes the interior of the vehicle, giving easier access to the child seat from any direction, which has been a struggle lamented by parents since rear-facing seats become compulsory.
Whether this concept will make it to our shores is still to be seen. The design would mean a review into Australian car seat laws, which make it illegal for children to sit in the front of the vehicle and makes them obligated to sit in a child seat until the age of seven.
But the Swedish-based company is familiar with strict car seat regulations, with Sweden famous for its laws surrounding extended rear-facing seats.
