Handle down while driving?

[Andi98989]

DH wants to know why the handle on our SR32 needs to be down when we're driving. I told him I was sure it was a safety issue related to if we were in an accident and the harness somehow failed. Then I got to thinking ... aren't there seats where you *can* leave the handle up while driving? That seems to defeat my theory ...

[Swimfreak78]

I think you can travel with the handle in the "middle" position upright -- at least that's how it was with my Snugride 22.

[Joolsplus2]

It can, and according to the Graco engineers, probably should, be left up, actually (your manual is fairly unclear, but it does say 'position A' is ok in the car). It's reinforced so that in a crash it will act somewhat like a rollbar to prevent the child from hitting the vehicle interior (though of course the most important thing to do is keep the harness properly tightened!). The concern on other seats that have to be put down (Evenflo, Baby Trend) is that they *may* (not necessarily, but we don't know, and it HAS happened) shatter in a crash during rebound, rather than acting like a rollbar.

PS, so give this one to your DH, you'll be right on so many other things, just don't let him gloat too much!

[Andi98989]

Phew - I'm happy to give him this one - it's much easier to get the seat in/out of the car if we can leave the handle up. DH and I both swear we read in the manual that we had to put the handle down, but of course now we can't find that part. LOL