Citation

Glass RJ, Graham JD. J. Saf. Res. 1999; 30(1): 17-24.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, U.S. National Safety Council, Publisher Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The risks that passenger-side airbags pose for children have caused renewed interest in where children should sit in motor vehicles. This study examines where children (dead or surviving) were sitting in passenger vehicles when fatal crashes occurred in the United States during the years 1985-1996. The major findings are that: (a) roughly one-third (32.5%) of children under the age of 13 in cars and minivans were seated in the front seat; (b) this behavior was most frequent among infants (45.4%); and (c) this behavior was more frequent when children were the only passengers in the vehicle (55.9%). Over the 12-year period analyzed, the percentage of children in the front seat has declined steadily among infants and toddlers but not among young children and subteens. The percentage of children in the front seat ranged from 40.0% in Massachusetts to 24.0% in Hawaii. When a child was seated in the front, the rear seat was completely empty in 65% of the crashes and completely full only 4% of the time. More systematic study of child seating behaviors is recommended.