You’ve chosen a safe car seat for your little one and are now ready to enjoy a family journey together! Before you set off, it’s important to know where you should place your car seat in the safest way. We at Maxi-Cosi recommend that you place your car seat in the back seat – preferably in the middle spot.
However, you might need to consider other options when, for instance, you have multiple car seats to install or your vehicle is not suitable for centre installation. We’re here to help you to decide the best position for your car seat : 1) Rear Middle: The Safest Spot! The safest place for your car seat is the rear middle seat due to its maximum distance from passenger-side air bags and any potential impact.
Although statistically this is the safest location, we know it might not always be very practical or even possible because of the size of the seat or the lack of a seat belt or ISOFIX points of your vehicle.2) Rear Passenger Although not considered as the safest car seat position in accordance with statistics, consumers often prefer this location.
Away from the most common side of impact, the rear passenger seat offers the advantage of giving you easy access to your child, with the restraint often being pavement side of the vehicle, away from the flow of traffic.3) Rear Driver It’s still a safe location for the car seat to be as it is in the rear of the vehicle.
However, it is less safe than the rear passenger because it’s a more common side of impact.4) Front Passenger We recommend you to stick to the rear seat, but if you do have to put your baby in the front passenger seat, always make sure that the front airbags are deactivated before you set off.
the newborn in the rear passenger position the toddler in the rear driver position the 4-year-old in the front passenger seat position (with deactivated airbags and the front seat in the rearmost position) all in their appropriate restraints.
In any case, always make sure the car seat is fitted correctly and enjoy happy trips with your little one!
Should a car seat go behind the driver or passenger?
Install in the Backseat – The car seat should always be installed in the back seat. That is the safest spot for your baby. If you can, put the car seat in the center seat. If not, it is fine behind either the driver or passenger side. The important thing is that it is in the back, away from the airbags. Even in a minor crash, airbags can seriously injure your little one.
Is it better to put car seat on driver or passenger side?
May 7, 2008 – The safest spot for a baby’s car seat is in the center of the back seat rather than on the sides, according to a new study. Although older passengers using seat belts can decide where they sit in a car, researchers point out that a child’s seat is determined by where the child-restraint system is installed.
For ease of access and keeping an eye on a baby, the most common spot for a baby’s car seat is the rear passenger side. But the study showed that children under age 3 seated in the center of the back seat had nearly half the risk of injury in motor vehicle crashes than children seated in either of the other positions.
“The center rear seating position is used less often by children restrained by a child-restraint system as they get older,” writes researcher Michael J. Kallan, MS, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and colleagues in Pediatrics, “Children seated in the center rear have a 43% lower risk of injury compared with children in a rear outboard position.” Researchers say current child restraint safety guidelines recommend the center position as long as a snug fit of the car seat can be achieved.
Which seat is most likely to survive a car crash?
Last year, 4.5 million people suffered serious injuries from car crashes, which is roughly the population of Los Angeles. Vehicle safety features improve every year, but the number of injuries and deaths from car accidents aren’t dropping. Experts think that driving behavior is the problem.
- Safe driving habits can prevent a lot of accidents, but what if you’re not the driver? How can you stay safe as a passenger? The good news is, knowing the correct way of sitting in a car can lower your odds of serious injury.
- Read on to learn what you can do to keep yourself safe.
- The Upright Position is the Safest Position for Sitting in a Car If you’ve flown on an airplane, you were probably shown how to brace for impact by covering your face with your arms and pressing your head against the seat in front of you.
That’s safe in airplanes, but not in vehicles. The safest position in a car is to sit upright, like you would in a chair. Sit with your feet flat on the floor with your back resting against as much of the seat as possible. Car companies design airbags and other safety features under the assumption that all passengers will sit in an upright position.
If you’re sitting with your legs crossed, feet on the dashboard, or laying down in the backseat, the airbags won’t protect you as well. Sit upright and you’ll have the least chance of getting an auto injury, Wear a Seatbelt and Adjust Your Headrest If you’re wondering how to survive a car crash, the only thing more important than sitting upright is wearing a seatbelt.
It will keep you secure and will lower your risk for serious injury. Headrests will also protect you during an accident. If they’re adjusted correctly, they can lower the effects of whiplash, a neck sprain that can cause headaches or dizziness. The top of the headrest should sit just below the top of your head.
- If you’re in an accident, the headrest will keep your head from whipping back and forth.
- The Rear Middle Seat is the Safest Seat Location The back seat is more protected from head-on crashes than the front seats.
- But, the back seats are still vulnerable to side crashes.
- That’s why the middle seat in the back is the safest spot, since it’s basically the center of the car.
But, this seat is only safe when the passenger is wearing a lap and shoulder seat belt. In fact, backseat passengers who don’t wear seatbelts are three times more likely to get killed in an accident. Without a seatbelt, the rear center passenger could get ejected through the car’s windshield.
- Already Injured? Visit a Chiropractor Today Sometimes car accidents are unavoidable, so it’s important to get in the habit of sitting in a car in the upright position whenever you ride in a vehicle.
- That way you’ll already be sitting in the safest possible position.
- Unfortunately, prevention only helps before the accident.
If you’ve been injured in a car accident, we can help. We’re based in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and we specialize in auto accident chiropractic treatment. Contact us today to make an appointment and we’ll help you start your road to recovery.
What percentage of carseats are wrong?
Hispanic Children Less Likely to be Restrained While Riding in Cars Washington, D.C. – More than 2,600 children under 13 are involved in a car crash daily. That’s one child every 33 seconds. While most families put kids in car seats, the latest research from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows 59 percent of car seats are not installed correctly.
To help more parents access expert advice to protect their children in cars, Safe Kids Worldwide is now offering its popular Ultimate Car Seat Guide in Spanish. Visit www.UltimateCarSeatGuide.org, The Ultimate Car Seat Guide, developed with Chevrolet’s support, gives expert guidance to parents on the important decisions they face when choosing and using a car seat.
The guide offers parent-friendly tips on which car seat to buy, how to fit a car seat, when to move to a new one and a basic installation guide. “According to NHTSA, Hispanic children ages 4-7 are 14 percent less likely to be appropriately restrained in a car seat compared to white children,” said Lorrie Walker, Car Seat Expert, Safe Kids Worldwide.
“The Ultimate Car Seat Guide provides life-saving information that we are excited to now make available to parents in Spanish.” Further supporting NHTSA’s findings, new research from Safe Kids Worldwide, made possible in part by support from Chevrolet, reveals that 64 percent of car seats are not installed using the top tether.
The tether secures the top of a car seat to the vehicle seat and keeps a forward-facing car seat from pitching forward in crash or sudden stop. Other common installation mistakes include the car seat and harness being too loose. The Ultimate Car Seat guide provides information to combat these and other common installation mistakes.
- Safety is of highest priority at Chevrolet and we are committed to helping parents keep their children safe on the road,” said Tricia Morrow, Chevrolet Safety Engineer.
- Tools like the Ultimate Car Seat Guide and ongoing research offer parents potentially life-saving information that is easy to use and easy to apply in everyday life.
We are proud to partner with Safe Kids Worldwide to make car seat safety information easily accessible.” Download research report: ” Car Seat Tethers: Essential for Safety but Consistently Overlooked ” About Safe Kids Worldwide Safe Kids Worldwide is a nonprofit organization working to prevent childhood injury, the number one cause of death for children in the United States.
Throughout the world, almost one million children die of an injury each year, and almost every one of these tragedies is preventable. Safe Kids works with an extensive network of more than 400 coalitions in the U.S. and with partners in more than 30 countries to reduce traffic injuries, drownings, falls, burns, poisonings and more.
Since 1988, Safe Kids has helped reduce the U.S. childhood death rate from unintentional injury by 60 percent. Working together, we can do much more for kids everywhere. Join our effort at safekids.org
