Trick, Baby: 2015 Canyon/Colorado Jump Seats Transform for Proper Child-Seat Fitment

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Trick, Baby: 2015 Canyon/Colorado Jump Seats Transform for Proper Child-Seat Fitment

Mid-size pickups are wonderful things, offering genuine utility in a wieldy package. But as family vehicles, they often come up short. And even if you have an extended cab with rear jump seats, the proper fitment of a child safety seat is generally next to impossible. To address the situation, GM is fitting the extended-cab versions of its 2015 GMC Canyon and Chevy Colorado trucks with a configurable rear seat designed to permit the correct fitment of a child safety seat.

Although space is notoriously tight behind the front seats, it's ultimately the bottom cushion length that's the determining factor in whether a child seat can be mounted correctly. Many safety-restraint manufacturers recommend that at least 80 percent of the child seat's base sit securely on the cushion, and as anyone who's done even short-term time in the jump seats can tell you, the cushions are woefully short.

GM's solution: Remove the passenger side headrest and remount it horizontally into the front of the seat base. The additional length provides additional support for the child restraint, reducing the risk of injury in a crash. GM didn't divulge any private or public test results, but did say that a patent for the system is pending. (Earlier this month, Volvo revealed a prototype inflatable child safety seat aimed at easing the hassle of carrying and storing child restraints.)

It's an elegantly simple solution to a common problem, and will increase the versatility quotient of GM's mid-size trucks. Now if GM could devise a system to retrieve dropped binkies and magically eradicate body fluids, it would really be on to something.