The Safest Spot For A Child Safety Seat
Placing your child in the safety seat at the center rear cuts injury risks by nearly half. That’s according to a study by the University of Pennsylvania and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Researchers studied data from 4,790 car crashes which occurred in 16 U.S. states from December 1, 1998, to December 31, 2006, via insurance claim records and a telephone survey. They reported that young children less than 3 years old were 43 percent less likely to be injured when their seat was fastened in the center of the back seat rather than one of the side seats.
The data revealed that 31 percent of the children were seated on the left back seat while 41% were on the right side.
Currently, experts have already been advising that safety seats should be in the center of the rear seat and though the researchers recognized the inconvenience and difficulty associated with strapping a child, especially a heavier child, into a center-positioned seat and that it makes it difficult for other people to sit in the rear of the car, still, based on their findings, the researchers recommend that center is still the safest spot for babies and toddlers to ride.
Source: Yahoo News, 9 May 2008; “Seating Patterns and Corresponding Risk of Injury Among 0- to 3-Year-Old Children in Child Safety Seats”, Pediatrics, May 2008
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